Nico di Angelo and the Great Resurrection
by Project Phoenix Agent 003
Summary: Nico's life could be better. Percy died a year ago, and Nico hasn't seen Thalia in two years. But now, following the shocking discovery he's a father, Nico must go on a quest to increase his power and bring back the fallen heroes and fufill a prophecy.
1. New Death

_**Behold book three of the War of the Half-Bloods Trilogy! It's been two years since Wrath of the Mortals ended. Since then I managed to save Owch from himself, clear my name in every state except Texas, and begun training a sidekick. Everybody, Agent 1136. Agent 1136, say hi to everyone.**_

_**Agent 1136: Ugh, I told you to call me 36. Oh, hi everyone.**_

_**Oh go unclog the toilet or something. I love sidekicks. You can put them in a stupid costume to make yourself look cooler, boss them around, and they're tax deductable!**_

_It's been a year since Wrath of the Mortals. Since then Percy has returned back to his apartment and lived life as a depressed shell of a man. Thalia was nearly killed on her way back to camp and had to stay with the Hunters until her baby was born. By the time she returned to camp with her baby, Nico had left. When Thalia returned, the next Great Prophecy was given. Now, things are taking the turn for the worst…_

Percy's POV

Lightning flashed all around the Empire State Building. Rain pored down, soaking me to the bone. I stood on a ledge on the exterior of the building, near the top. In my hands I clutched my old Camp Half-Blood t-shirt.

_I've survived for so long. _I released my grip on my old shirt, and it plummeted to the ground far below. _I tried Annabeth. I really did._

As I stared at the ground below, the memories came back like a horrible tide of unwanted emotion. The sound of a single gunshot. The tortured look on her face. Her lifeless body crumpling to the floor. Tears rolled down my face.

_I promised myself I wouldn't do this. _I took another step toward the edge. I knew a fall from this height would kill me. That was the idea. _I really want to keep my promise. _My sanity came back for a moment. Would Annabeth want me to do this? No, she wouldn't. _I want to keep my promise. After all, you kept yours. _And Annabeth had paid for that promise with her life. If only she'd gone with the others to Olympus…I'd be dead.

That's when he came. He always comes at this point. When I'm on the verge of choosing life or accepting death. That's when he comes.

"Percy Jackson…" the raspy voice beckoned.

The hair on my neck stood on end as I turned to face the faceoff death himself. The reaper. He wore a flowing black robe that covered everything except his bony hands and his skull face. In his hands was a scythe. Without even uncapping it, Riptide was in my hands.

"It's time…" the reaper rasped.

I tightened my grip on Riptide, and the duel began. Everything fell into routine. Everything became simple. And once again, I felt the eerie calm of battle. He made the same move as always; a horizontal slice at my neck. He always does that, he's predictable.

I dodged the attack and stabbed him in the chest. He screamed in pain and vanished. I'd won once again. And in victory, just for a moment, I forgot…

I woke up with a shout. I was sweating and even though I'd gotten a full night's sleep, I felt exhausted. I looked at the empty space on the bed next to me.

…that she's gone.

The next morning I found some stale waffles and bitter coffee for breakfast. I took a sip and almost shuddered. Not only was the coffee black and bitter, but I'd made it three days ago, and it was way too cold. I didn't care. The waffles have no taste, and I dump my mug into the sink.

When I was done with breakfast I went into the living room, sat down in my chair, and stared at the same stain on the wall that I'd stared at everyday since she'd left.

She'd left. That's what I told myself everyday and night. I couldn't bring myself to put "Annabeth" and "dead" in the same sentence. Hades, I couldn't even say her name.

I didn't know how long I stared at the stain. An hour? A day? It didn't matter to me. For the hundredth time I considered using Riptide to kill myself, but my thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," I said to no one.

I slowly trudged to the door, and the knocking just got louder and louder.

"I'm coming!" I shouted angrily.

I opened the door to see Grover, wide-eyed in panic.

"What is it now?" I asked grumpily.

"It's Nico!" he shouted.

"You guys found him?" I asked.

Nico had gone missing shortly after I'd left camp. They'd been looking for him ever sine, because they had something important to tell him. I never bothered to remember what it was they had to tell him.

"Yeah, and he's being attacked by the Minotaur!" Grover shouted.

Shock coursed through my nerves, and I was suddenly charged with my old ADHD energy. It had faded once the fog of depression set in, but it was back now, and I felt alert and alive. Nico was in trouble, and I was about to let depression stop me from killing the Minotaur.

We both ran to Grover's car, a standard issue Satyr Securities cruiser. The only difference was the words _Cloven Elder _on the side. Grover slipped behind the wheel and we took off. As we drove, Grover nervously chewed his shirt.

"Easy man, I kill this meat head all the time," I reassured.

"Something's wrong Percy," Grover told me nervously. "I keep getting this feeling– whoa!"

Grover slammed on the breaks, and the front of the car stopped an inch away from hitting the three old ladies in the middle of the road. One of them held up a string and using a huge pair of shears, cut the single thread. Then in a flash they were gone. Grover looked at me.

"We better hurry," I said.

We speed through the streets until we came up on a torn up section of the street. Cars were overturned and on fire, and chunks of the street were ripped up. Suddenly, a small black figure flew through the air and cracked against the wall. The Minotaur stomped into view, and I leapt out. I uncapped Riptide and the sword emerged. I can't remember the last time I used it.

I charged him, but my skills were rusty at best. My swing missed completely and I was smacked against a wall. I slowly stood up and dusted myself off. Suddenly everything blacked out and the scene changed.

I was standing in the middle of a battle ravaged New York, The sky was red and the clouds were black. Smoke curled around my feet. A lone figure approached from the darkness. Not him again.

"Percy Jackson…" he rasped.

"I don't have time for this," I said and swung.

This time however, he dodged and sliced. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Everything changed back to normal, and I staggered back. The Minotaur's horns had fresh blood on them. My blood. The Minotaur prepared to charge, and things reverted to the hallucination. The reaper stood out of reach of my sword.

"Your time has come," the reaper rasped.

"No," I insisted.

"Percy," a different voice called. Oh no. Not that voice, not now.

Annabeth stepped into view, and my blood froze. "You fought the good fight. You did your best. No one could ask anymore of you."

"But…" I stammered.

She put a hand on my shoulder. "It's time to rest Percy. It's time to come to Elysium."

I nodded. Annabeth took a step back and the reaper raised his scythe. The hallucination ended, and the Minotaur charged. Everything went black.

Nico's POV

"PERCY!" I screamed as my friend fell dead.

_**And that's it for this chapter. Tomorrow's a new day, and a new chappy. Review. The twelfth person to review will receive the new Great Prophecy. Anyway, just review and get ready for my newest success! REVIEW!**_


	2. Daddy

_**Percy died. How sad. A moment of silence for–**_

_**1136: OMFG! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT UGLY THING?**_

_**Huh? Oh that's just– OH CRAP RUN! RUN! RUN! Got to go guys, I'll have 002 transmit the chapter. GET DOWN WITH YOUR BAD SELF SUCKAS! *fires submachine gun***_

_One year later…_

Nico's POV

I sat at my table in the diner and let myself wallow in my thoughts. My eye wandered across the diner. None of the waitresses were that hot, so my eyes returned to my mug of coffee. That's when I heard the sentence that altered the course of my life.

"Mommy! I have to go _now_!"

I looked up. A little girl, no older than two was tugging at the pants of her mom. The little girl had dark hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a little baby leather jacket and was wearing black pants. The mom had dark short hair and was wearing black skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Honestly she looked like Thalia, but she was too old. Thalia was permanently sixteen. I couldn't see her face though. She glanced my way and quickly looked away. They quickly sat down at a different table.

She kept glancing my way. I have that effect on women. One time though, she looked my way just long enough for me to see her eyes. They were electric blue. _No way… _I shook the thought out of my head. I didn't pay the two any more attention after that.

I got up to leave, and I saw the mom whisper something in the little girl's ear. The girl's eyes lit up and she ran to me. She hugged my leg for dear life and nuzzled against my leg. Eventually she looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi daddy," she said happily.

I stared shocked at the little girl. Slowly, I looked up at the mom who was now looking at me. I saw her face clearly for the first time. My stomach flipped upside down.

"Thalia?" I asked in shock.

She looked at me. "Hey Nico."

The Pit POV

"You're kidding right?" Adrian asked.

"Do I _look _like I'm kidding?" Sophiee seethed.

"What do you mean there's _another _child? _And _it's already been born?" Adrian growled.

Sophiee grabbed Adrian by the collar and lifted him off his feet. "Don't test me Emo Boy. I'm not afraid to break ever bone in your body."

Adrian gulped. "'Kay."

"If you're done threatening your teammates Sophiee, we have work to do," a voice said.

Sophiee dropped Adrian and glared at Ethan, who had survived his fight with Percy.

"Do you ever knock?" she asked. Ethan opened his mouth, and Sophiee cut him off. "Of course not."

"Regardless of how the child came to be, we now have to clean up this mess," Ethan continued. "Alex di Angelo must die."

Nico's POV

I stood shocked, staring at Thalia. She was older, which meant she'd been kicked out of the Hunt, which meant Artemis knew, which meant I was dead meat. But that wasn't really big on my mind right now. I was more concerned with the girl who was still attached to my leg.

"Sit down Nico," Thalia told me.

I looked down at…I didn't even know her name. She reached her arms up, asking to be held. I picked her up and sat down at a table again. Thalia slid into the other seat.

"Thalia, why is this little girl calling me her dad?" I asked, still a little shaken up.

Thalia looked at me. "Her name is Alex. And she called you her father because she's yours. She's ours."

My blood froze. Oh gods, I'd gotten Thalia pregnant. What's worse, I'd left her with the baby alone for two years. _Idiot. _I was about to open my mouth when Thalia started talking again.

"We have a lot to talk about," Thalia told me.

I looked at Alex, who'd fallen asleep in my arms. "Yeah. A lot."

Thalia smiled at Alex's sleeping form. I shifted Alex's weight so I could hold her better. Thalia looked back at me.

"So, what happened?" I asked. "Last time I saw you was the night of Annabeth's funeral."

"Artemis picked me up and we left before anyone else woke up. She knew all along about…us, and I was kicked out of the Hunt. I didn't know if she was going to kill you or not. I tried to come back to camp, but I was attacked. Remember the girl with the ice knives?"

"Neve?" I asked. "She attacked you?"

Thalia nodded. "The b**** almost killed me too. But the Hunters scared her off, and I ended up staying with them until Alex was born. By the time I finally got back to camp, you were gone and I had to raise Alex on my own."

"And I'm really sorry about that," I put in. "I left camp and never came back. You were gone, my other friends were busy or dead, and I didn't hear from Percy until…you know."

Thalia nodded. "We'll talk about that later. There's something else you need to know. The next Great Prophecy was given when I got back. I think you need to take a look at it."

She pushed a piece of paper toward me, and I read it. "Scary as usually, but what does this have to do with me?"

"When Annabeth died, she was pregnant," Thalia told me.

"Unborn child…" I mumbled. "You guys are going to resurrect Annabeth so she can give birth to the child of the prophecy? As crazy as it sounds, there's another problem. She's perfectly happy in Elysium with Percy. You're going to take that from her?"

"Then we resurrect Percy too," Thalia said determined. "Well, we won't."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Nico, who do you know that has the most control over death and the Underworld?" Thalia asked me.

"No…" I groaned. "Thalia I can't resurrect people period, let alone two."

"C'mon Nico your our only chance. You read the prophecy, if Annabeth's child isn't born, every demigod in existence could be in serious trouble," Thalia reminded me.

"I remember the prophecy. Look this is crazy. No one has ever been resurrected in the history of forever. Orpheus got close, but I'm pretty sure neither of us can play the lyre like he could," I ranted.

"You're going to try," Thalia told me.

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

"I was a single, teenaged mom thanks to you Ghost Boy, so yes you are trying whether you want to or not," she said firmly.

"It's not gonna-" I started, but Thalia interupted.

"Oh, and _your _changing Alex's diaper," Thalia added.

"What do you mean?" I asked, but then I felt the wet warmth where I was holding Alex.

_**Well that's it for this chapter. Alright show of hands, how many of you want to know the prophecy? I thought so. Well you'll hear it when Jacob hears it! Who the crap is Jacob you may be asking? You'll find out eventually! Will Nico be able to resurrect Percy and Annabeth? Is he gonna make it as a dad? What is The Pit up to now? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	3. First Attempt

_**Agent 002: Hey guys. I haven't seen 003 or 1136 in a while. Which is perfectly normal. So are the bullet shells littered all over the floor. And the hole in the wall? I'd be worried if there WASN'T one. No what has me worried is there hasn't been an embarrassing online vid about 1136 in weeks. Anyway, here's the chapter.**_

After changing Alex's diaper, we left the diner. I was going to give Alex to Thalia for a bit, after two seconds of "I want daddy!" I had to take her back. We walked into the parking lot, and I suddenly realized they had to go to their own car.

Thalia must've read my mind. "We walked. Well I walked and Alex was carried. Anyway if you have a car, a ride back to camp would be nice."

"No problem," I assured her.

We walked through the parking lot until we came up on a sleek black car with a license plate that read: GHSTKNG.

"You're kidding," Thalia said. "Yours?"

"You know it," I smiled.

Thalia eyed it suspiciously. "What?" I asked.

"We'll get you a new one later," she said.

"A new what?" I asked.

"You really think I'm letting you drive Alex around in that?" she said in a stern motherly voice.

"What?" I asked, confused.

Thalia sighed. "Look. I know you're new to the dad thing, but I am _done _doing this alone. And you're the most biologically qualified to help."

I didn't have a problem with that. I actually _wanted _to be a part of Alex's life. "Got it. So uh…does Alex sleep in your cabin or…"

I paused, hoping Thalia would fill in the blank. She did. "Well, I think it would be better if the two of us were in the same cabin with her."

"I doubt Zeus would let me live longer than two seconds if I set one foot in his cabin," I reminded her.

"Your right," Thalia said. She thought about it. "How does your dad feel about…you know…us?"

"Dad?" I asked. "He's okay with it. Although I think he would've preferred that I'd kidnapped you."

Thalia laughed. "So it's settled. We'll move into your cabin."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah why not."

We pulled up at camp. Thalia's tree was still at the top of the hill, and the guard dragon was curled around it sleeping happily. I missed the old place. And when some kids from the Hermes cabin threw a water balloon at my face, I knew it was good to be back.

While I moved _all_ of Thalia and Alex's stuff into the Hades cabin, Thalia rocked Alex to sleep in her arms. I got the easy job. She put her in her crib and we met on the fireworks beach.

"Ready?" Thalia asked.

"This isn't gonna work," I insisted.

I spread my arms out and focused on the Underworld. My focus zoomed in to Elysium. It zoomed again to Percy and Annabeth. I imagined them rising out of their graves and their souls reentering their repaired bodies. I saw Percy and Annabeth clutch their chests in discomfort. I they started to fade and become transparent. I felt as if I was being ripped apart molecule by molecule. I lost sight of Percy and Annabeth as the pain increased.

Thalia's POV

Nico spread his arms out and planted his feet firmly. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Suddenly His eyes flared open, completely black. He fell to his knees and the veins in his neck bulged. He collapsed completely, and after going into a brief convulsion, he stopped moving. I ran over to him and listened to his heart. It was still beating, but I couldn't hear him breathing. His heartbeat stopped abruptly, making my own speed up.

My hands crackled with electricity and I slammed them into Nico's chest. His back arched and his muscles tensed, but he went slack again.

"C'mon, not like this," I begged.

I slammed my hands down on him again. Again there was the briefest reactions before he fell limp.

"Nico!" I shouted. "I forbid you to go see your father. Nico!"

Tears started to well up as I slammed my electric hands down one last time, and–thankfully– his heart started again. Slowly, I heard him take in a breath. He didn't wake up though. I was so scared and upset. I forced him to do this and it almost killed him. If he didn't make it…

The Hermes cabin, which had been passing by came up. Most of them had died or left camp, so now there was only Travis, Erica, and Mason. They stared down at Nico in horror.

"Oh gods," Travis breathed. "Is he?"

"He's alive," I answered. A cold chill swept through my body, and I shivered. So did the Hermes cabin. Wait. I looked up as dark clouds rolled in.

"I thought bad weather always passed over camp," Mason mumbled.

I tapped my bracelet and it expanded into shield form. "It does."

I drew the Mace canister that turned into my spear, but I didn't transform it yet. The icy wind picked up, and snow began to swirl in the wind, hitting us full in the face. A thick wind of snow gusted by, and the next thing I knew Neve was there, walking towards us slowly and confidently. I activated my spear.

"Hello Thalia," she greeted as the snow storm picked up.

I readied my spear. "What do you want?"

"Your kid needs to die," Neve said. "Nothing personal."

"You want her?" I challenged fiercely. "You'll have to get through me."

Travis, Mason, and Erica all drew their weapons. "Us too."

Neve blew a kiss toward Travis and a cloud of snow shot from her hand. The snow covered Travis in an inch of snow all over his body, and he froze like a statue. Mason and Erica gasped.

"Don't worry," Neve said. "He'll thaw. Probably."

Before I could stop them the two children of Hermes attacked. Neve flicked her wrists and her knives shot into her hands. She threw one, which hit Mason in the face with deadly accuracy. He froze solid instantly. Erica tried to strike Neve with her sword, but wound up with Neve's other knife in her gut. She froze into ice.

I threw my spear like a javelin, and it knocked Neve's knife from her hand. I raised my shield, forcing her back. She waved her had, directing the snow storm. My shield was blanketed in snow, blocking the image of Medusa. I tried to scrape it off, but it was frozen on.

I shield bashed Neve under her legs, and she went flying over me. Mid-air, she kicked out with both legs and I sprawled across the floor.

"Haven't we done this before?" Neve laughed.

I glared at the mention of our last fight. "You caught me by surprise last time. This time, you don't stand a chance."

The noise of the snow storm muffled her footsteps. I didn't know she was there until it was too late. Aegis turned back into a bracelet and I was felt searing pain course through my back. I fell to the floor, and weakly turned to see Helen behind me. Her hands glowed brightly.

"Oh I'm gonna enjoy this," Helen grinned evilly.

I saw Nico stir slightly. If I could stall until he woke up I might survive this. "Aw, is somebody jealous because Nico picked me?"

Helen's eyes flared and she fired streams of energy at me. I dodged as she continued to fire. One bolt came close to hitting Neve.

"Watch it!" she shouted.

Helen fired a blast of blue fire from her fingertips, which I dodged. The blast continued to fly toward Neve. Neve blocked with and ice shield, and the blast reflected back at Helen. She was hit and she went down hard, soon buried in the snow.

Neve directed all the snow at me. I willed the winds to react and they pushed the snow away from me. I attacked back with wind and rain that pelted Neve. She pushed against it with her snow storm. Her snow storm won out and I was buried. My body temperature quickly dropped. I tried to remain conscious. _Little help Nico? _My silent pleas were unanswered, and I found myself about to pass out.

_**And scene. Weelllll…how'd I do? Too big a cliffy? Too small a cliffy? You guys wanted Nico to actually pull of the resurrection? That would totally kill the story and even I know that. Nope, according to 003's plans it's gonna be a lot harder than that. Anyway it says here I'm supposed to ask tv host questions…? What the hell does that mean. Um…**_

_**003: Will Nico be able to help Thalia? How determined are The Pit to kill Alex? If Nico can't pull off a resurrection on his own, is he gonna ask for help? Tune in next time to– CRAP THEIR HERE! RUN! **_


	4. Memory Lane

_**1136: I think they passed us.**_

_**002: Shh! What was that? Do you hear somebody talking?**_

_**003: …and with thanks to **__**raven shadow heart**__**, I proudly present–**_

_**1136&002: SHH!**_

_**003: What? I'm in the middle of some–**_

_**1136&002: HUSH DAMMIT!**_

_**003: …here's chapter four.**_

Thalia's POV

As I faded, my minded began to wander. Back to the first time this happened, two years ago…

_I walked through the woods, still head towards camp when a sudden chilling breeze swept by. I shivered, and the cold passed. It came again, colder this time. I looked around; trying to see what was around me. But by the time I saw her I was too late. A blizzard of snow shot forward, pinning me against a tree with icy winds and snow. Snow collected around me, freezing me to the tree. When I was fully restrained, the snow abruptly stopped. A single figure stepped into view. _

_I recognized her from the members of The Pit I'd fought with Nico. What was her name? Neve. But I never knew she was this powerful. She smiled as she drew one of her two knives. A lightning bolt struck the ice that held me to the tree, and I was free. I quickly took out my spear, but she threw her knife with deadly accuracy and it cut through my right hand. It went numb and the flesh around the cut froze. I cursed and dropped my spear._

_Neve jumped into the air and kicked, knocking me to the ground. The blizzard she'd been using earlier picked up again, burying me in snow and ice. I let out a desperate cry for help just before the snow covered my face._

_I wasn't aware of what happened after that, but I woke up back with the huntresses with a blanket around my shoulders._

_"Hello Thalia," Artemis greeted. "Are you well?"_

_I shook off the blanket. "I'm fine. Thanks for the rescue."_

_I stood up to leave, but my muscles ached and I sat back down._

_"You'd better stay here for a bit Thalia," Artemis suggested. "Perhaps until the baby is born. The rode back to camp is a long one, and I doubt you'll get back before the time for delivery comes."_

_She was right. So, even though the other huntresses were disgusted with me for getting pregnant, I stuck around until the baby was born._

_Fast forward nine months…_

_"Oh gods!" I screamed for the billionth time. "I swear when I find Nico I am going to–"_

_"Push now Thalia," Artemis ordered. I did._

_The pain receded a lot, and Artemis held up the crying baby girl. I took her in my arms, smiling. "Hi there," I greeted the baby as she squirmed in my arms. One of the huntresses, Diane, looked over._

_"What's her name?" she asked._

_I thought about it. "Alexandria," I finally decided. "Alexandria…di Angelo."_

_With that name, little Alex officially had a father, whether he was around right now or not. I knew when I got back Nico would be…well shocked of course. But after that, I could already see the happiness in his eyes as he held his baby girl for the first time. I couldn't wait to get back to camp._

I suddenly returned to the land of the living, feeling the tiniest amount of warmth outside the snow. I still couldn't move, so I focused all my strength on summoning a lightning bolt. It struck, and I broke free. I clambered out, looking around. I found Nico with his hands raised in defeat as Neve held a knife to…oh gods no.

Alex was crying her head off as she shivered in Neve's cold arms. I was about to explode with rage. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Neve looked at me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned. "One _spark _and I turn her into a popsicle."

I backed down, but my anger only rose. I looked into my child's crying face. _It's gonna be okay. _I silently told her. She kept crying. I wanted nothing more than the tear Neve to ribbons, but I held my ground. Neve took a step back. Then another. And another.

I started to follow, but Neve said, "I dropped the baby."

"What?" I asked. Alex was still crying in Neve's arms.

"I mean she surprised me, and I dropped the baby," Neve repeated, lifting Alex a little higher.

"You wouldn't," Nico said in disgust.

"I'm telling you, they rushed me, and I let go of the baby."

Nico and I remained glued where we stood. If we didn't do something Neve was going to kill Alex. But if we did do something, Neve would kill Alex.

Neve took another step back, now positioned under the sun just right so her shadow covered Alex. I looked desperately at Nico. He nodded, and Alex vanished. She reappeared in the middle of my shadow.

Nico snapped his fingers, and Neve started sinking into the earth. "Tell my dad I said hi," Nico said menacingly.

And then Neve's eyes disappeared under the earth. I picked up my still frightened daughter and tried to soothe her, patting her back gently as I rocked her to sleep. I remembered Helen. But as all the snow finished melting, she was no where to be found.

That night, I put Alex back to bed and climbed into bed. Nico stood looking at me. "Uh, that's my bed," he informed me.

"Top bunk," I told him, curling up under the covers.

"But–"

I shot him a look, and he grudgingly climbed into the top bunk. Alex woke up once, crying for her parents. Out of habit, I started to get up. But by the time I was in a sitting position, Nico had already hopped down to Alex's crib.

After hugging her tightly and giving her a kiss on the forehead, Nico managed to put Alex back to bed. He was about to climb up when I stopped him.

"Nico?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"Thanks. For everything," I told him.

"My pleasure," he assured and climbed back into his bed. I fell asleep smiling, thinking that this was so much easier now that Alex was older and Nico was around. I remembered what it had been like on my own.

_Alex woke up screaming again. I hadn't slept in two days, and it was getting to me. I came to Alex's crib and after feeding her, I put her back to bed._

_I was woken up two seconds after I'd fallen asleep. I got out of bed again and held Alex up._

_"What?" I asked in exasperation. "What do you _want_?"_

_I took one whiff of the air, and I knew. I shuddered and changed another diaper. I ran out of space in the trash can for it, so I tossed it out a window. If the nymphs had a problem with it, they could take it up with me. I doubted they would._

_As I lay in bed trying to sleep, I could only wonder where the Hades Nico was. Because I swore when I found him I was going to…wrap my arms around him and tell him how much I missed him and needed him to help with Alex. Pathetic I know, but in the state I was in, it was a pretty strong and independent thought. _

Scary. But now I had Nico back, and he was sooo going to make up those years he missed. Still, some part of me thought it was wrong to raise my kid with someone I wasn't married to. _Thalia di Angelo _does _have a ring to it…_

My thoughts were interrupted by Alex as she woke up, yelling about monsters under the bed.

"Your turn," I mumbled up to Nico.

"I took the last one," he mumbled back.

"And I took a year's worth before that," I reminded him. "Get up."

He did. "What's wrong honey?" he asked.

"Dare's a monster unda my bed," she whined in her little voice.

"Is dare?" Nico asked, playing along with Alex. "Den daddy's gonna have to kiw it."

Nico had a pretty good baby-talk voice. Nico got down on his hands and knees and checked under the bed for monsters. His whole body went rigid. Very slowly, he pulled out a screeching pigeon with a bronze beak and bronze talons. I handed him his sword and he killed the thing in one stab.

"Tanks daddy," Alex said sweetly and pulled her blankets over her.

Nico came and sat down on the bunk I was using. "How did that get down there?" I asked him.

He looked at me. "I don't know."

_**All this work to kill one little girl. Believe me, if you knew what that girl was destined to do, you'd understand why The Pit wants her dead so badly. Villains are obsessive, isn't that right 001?**_

_**001: I will get out of this. And when I do–**_

_**003: I'll throw you into the Arctic Ocean. Think you could survive THAT? I know it was hard for me.**_

_**001: Watch it punk. You aren't the only one with a little back up.**_

_***wall explodes* HOLY CRAP!**_


	5. Highway to Hell

_**002: He gonna make it?**_

_**1136: I hope not. If he dies, I get his stuff.**_

_**002: What are YOU gonna do with…an empty sub machine gun, a milk carton of toothpaste, a lightsaber, and thirty-two cases of mini-nukes that look like beer bottles. **_

_**1136: …I don't know.**_

_**002: *looks back at 003 in hospital bed* C'mon, pull through…**_

Nico's POV

The next morning, I was woken up by something squirming all over my face. I groggily opened my eyes to see Alex, sitting on my head. Thing was, I was on the top bunk, and Alex's bed wasn't tall enough to reach me. It still had crib bars to keep her from rolling out.

"Alex, how'd you get up here?" I asked, sitting up.

Alex looked at me with innocent little eyes. "I doe knooooow…"

Alex rolled off the top bunk, grabbing the side of the bed frame as she rolled. From there she jumped toward her own crib, grabbing the bars on the side. After that, she jumped straight onto the bottom bunk, and on top of Thalia.

"Ta-da!" Alex yelled proudly, waking up Thalia. I was kinda surprised Alex landing on her hadn't.

I just sat there with my mouth open and my eyes wide. How old was Alex? One and a half, two at the most. I didn't know her birthday, so I wasn't sure. _Oh gods, I don't know my little girl's birthday. _Thalia rubbed her eyes as she got up and yawned.

"Mommy! Mommy! Look what I can do!" Alex shouted.

"What is it sweetie?" she asked.

Oh crap. If Thalia saw Alex do something crazy and dangerous like what I'd just seen, she'd go ballistic. I jumped out of bed and was about to stop Alex, but instead of doing something amazing, Alex just burped.

"Scuze me," Alex giggled.

"Nico did you see that?" Thalia asked.

I slowly nodded, wondering if maybe I'd just gone crazy for a bit and Alex was completely normal. But I knew what I saw. Alex di Angelo was a less than two, and already she was showing signs of being a demigod. _This is gonna be…complicated. _

After breakfast, the three of us went for a walk to talk about how we were going to bring Annabeth and Percy back.

"I'm not trying that again," I insisted. "I'm no where near strong enough."

"What if you got even more powerful?" Thalia asked. "Like, powerful enough to pull of the resurrection?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, but there's only one guy powerful enough to do that, and he's–" I stopped as the plan came together in my head.

"–and he's my dad."

Thalia grinned. "This is perfect. We go to Hades, he resurrects Annabeth and Percy, Annabeth gives birth to the child of the prophecy, and everybody hopefully gets saved."

"Still feel kinda bad for the kid though," I said, lifting Alex up as she got tired of walking. "I mean, whoever gets that prophecy is in for some serious trouble."

"We're going to do the resurrection Nico," Thalia insisted. "You read the prophecy. '_The resurrection shall cause his birth'_. How many meanings can that have?"

I sighed. "Guess your right."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Thalia asked. "Let's go now."

"Where aw we going?" Alex asked.

"Uh…" I began.

"Grandpa's house," Thalia answered.

I laughed. Technically, she was right. We all got in my car, Alex sitting in Thalia's lap because we didn't have a car seat yet. I started up the car and we drove off. As we drove, I turned on the radio and "Highway to Hell" came over the speakers. Thalia switched the radio off.

She looked at me for a second before simply saying, "No."

We drove in silence for a bit until I cleared my throat. "When's Alex's birthday?"

"She turns two in September," Thalia said.

I nodded, but then something else hit me. When Thalia had joined the Hunters, she'd been a day away from sixteen. That meant the day after she'd been kicked out she'd turned sixteen.

"Thalia, when's _your _birthday?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"You turned sixteen the day after you left the Hunters right?" She nodded. "That would make that day your new birthday."

Thalia laughed. "Guess your right. Oh that reminds me, you owe me three birthdays presents and you owe Alex one."

"Great."

We reached the entrance to the Underworld and got out. I looked at Alex, who was about to enter the land of the dead. Great, I was going to traumatize my kid.

We entered, and were waved through by Charon. My real fear though was Cerberus. I'd be fine, and Alex might even be good too. But odds are he'd eat Thalia on sight.

We approached, and he let out a low growl. I was about to explain to him that Alex and Thalia were with me, but Alex jumped out of Thalia's arms and ran over to him.

"Doggie!" she shouted happily as she hugged one of his huge legs.

Cerberus rolled on his back and Alex scratched his stomach, giggling. "Good doggie!"

Cerberus woofed happily and gave Alex a lick, making her giggle. Thalia took a step forward, and suddenly Cerberus growled.

"What's wrong?" Thalia whispered to me.

"He doesn't like you very much," I answered matter-of-factly.

"Well do something!" Thalia hissed as Cerberus slowly approached.

"Um hey boy," I greeted. "Please don't eat the daughter of Zeus, she's Alex's mommy."

"Woof?"

"Yes she is," I answered.

"Woof," Cerberus acknowledged.

"Exactly."

"Woof?" he asked.

"Um…me," I answered.

Cerberus looked at me incredulously, then his three heads came at us. One licked me, one licked Alex, and the third licked Thalia. Alex giggled and Thalia avoided freaking out from being so close to the teeth.

We went past Cerberus and continued towards Hades' palace. Alex oohed and aahed at everything that moved on the way, and nearly fell into Tartarus at one point. Don't even get me started on how mad Thalia was about that one. I was lucky she didn't throw _me _into Tartarus.

We entered the palace until we reached the throne room of Hades.

"Hey dad?

My dad was on his cell phone at the moment, and he held up a hand as if to say _in a minute_.

"Lord Hades?" Thalia tried. She was waved off too.

"I don't care if it will save millions, no one gets out of the Underworld unless they've made Elysium and choose rebirth. Or if they're not dead. But any and all _dead_ are stuck here. That's final. ELVIS PRESLEY IS DEAD FOR A REASON YOU–"

"ESCUZE ME!" Alex shouted at the top of her little lungs.

Hades looked our way for the first time, and saw Alex. He returned to his call.

"I'm going to have to call you back Mrs. President."

He put the phone away and turned to us. Alex jumped out of Thalia's arms and ran over to him.

"Gwanpa!" she shouted, hugging him. Hades looked up at us in confusion. I shrugged.

"She's a hugger. What're you gonna do?" I said.

"Uh…right," Hades mumbled.

"So…" he said as he tried–to no avail–to pry off Alex, "What can I do for my son and his extended one night stand?"

I cleared my throat. "You've heard the new prophecy right?"

_**001: You can put the gun down now kid. I already know it's empty.**_

_**1136: What do you want?**_

_**001: Well as the HERO of the world, it is my duty to bring the man behind the 9-11 time travel incident to justice. And since 003 cleared his name, that means YOU are the new prime suspect.**_

_**1136: *looks at sub machine gun before stabbing 001 with the barrel* SUCK ON THAT! Wait, it's 003. He's mumbling something in his sleep.**_

_**003: Will Nico be able to convince Hades to resurrect our two fallen heroes? If this plan fails, what will they try next? And with one line of the prophecy revealed, how long before the others are also revealed? Tune in next time to *heart rate flatlines***_


	6. Preparations

_**003: Huh? Wha? What happened? Where am I? *sees outfit* Oh no not again. When am I? *pulls out phone* Guys can you here me?**_

_**002: You're alive? Do you know how worried we were?**_

_**1136: What do you mean we?**_

_**002: He was worried. He just won't admit.**_

_**1136: Dude we already buried your body. How the hell are you still alive?**_

_**003: I'm not. I'm 003 from the past! With all the memories of the 003 you guys buried! I LOVE being a time traveler! I'm so happy I'm sending a chapter to you guys for you to post.**_

"I've heard it," Hades confirmed. "'_The unborn child of the half-blood heroes, whose peers of power number zero–_'"

"Yeah, yeah that's the one," I interrupted.

"What about it?" Hades asked.

"Well, we think we know who needs to be resurrected for the prophecy to be fulfilled," Thalia told him.

Hades raised an eyebrow. "Alright, who is it? Last thing we need is the death of all demigods and an unstoppable murder spree."

"Percy and Annabeth," I said.

"…Then again what's so bad about the death of thousands?" Hades asked.

"What?" Thalia and I both asked. Thalia snatched Alex off of Hades and glared.

"Do you have _any _idea how powerful that child would be?" Hades yelled. "The whole world is much better off with that child _never _being born."

"Not according to the Oracle," I reminded him. "Besides, aren't children of the prophecy _supposed _to be powerful?"

"Not that powerful. Jacob L. Jackson will _never _be born so long as I have a say in the decision," Hades stated firmly.

"With all due respect Lord Hades," Thalia began, "WHAT THE HADES IS WRONG WITH YOU OVER PARANOID–"

"Alex cover your ears!" I shouted.

"MOTHER F****** A**HOLE!"

Alex, her ears not covered like I had told her to, stared at Thalia in shock. "Mommy, what's a a**hole? Is it like a b****?"

Thalia gasped. "Where did you here that word?"

Alex pointed at me. Without taking her innocent eyes off Thalia. Thalia sent me a death glare that let me know I was in _huge _trouble. I gulped.

"I'm sorry," Hades apologized, "but that child will not be born under _my _watch."

Thalia opened her mouth, but I covered it with one hand. Needless to say she bit me. I did my best not to yelp in pain and nodded at my dad. We then left the palace, with me dragging a flailing mad Thalia and still have to keep her mouth shut. Finally, my hand couldn't take it and I told Alex to cover her ears again.

"–the Hades Nico? You're really just gonna let him say no like that?"

I smiled. "Nope. I think I've got a plan. Remember when Percy had the power of all the gods? Well I've got an idea…"

The Pit POV

Evan readied himself, the entire training room going dead silent except for the unnatural buzz of the lights. The starting alarm went off, and Evan shot forward. Four punching bags swung down from the rafters, attached to the roof with cables made of steel. Evan yanked his sword out and sliced two punching bags as they came up. He waited for the backswing to chop the other two. As soon as they were gone, fire spewed out from the left wall. Evan leapt backward to avoid it and threw his helmet into the nozzle. It was blocked, and Evan sprinted past. Knives shot out of the wall in front of him, and Evan batted them aside with his sword.

An automated grenade launcher roared to life and started spewing of Greek fire bombs at thirty rounds per second. Evan sprinted to avoid the initial stream of death before hurling his sword like a javelin and destroying the grenade launcher. As he continued through the course, wooden target sprung out of the ground. Some were painted with images of demigods in Camp Half-Blood t-shirts. He threw knives at them, aiming for the eyes. Some of the targets were painted to look like ordinary mortals. He avoided hitting those.

His knives never missed a wooden target, and Evan never stopped moving at anything less than top speed. As he continued, a large pit was in between him and the next part of the course. He jumped over it as snakes jumped from it, trying to kill him. Evan landed safely on the other side and sprinted to the final part of the course. Bullets fired from either side as Evan flipped, jumped, rolled, dived, slid, and twisted to stay alive. One bullet tore open his shoulder. Evan didn't even blink.

The final challenge leapt from the shadows. An automaton in the shape of a man, stylized after the dead hero Percy Jackson. Evan blocked the robot Percy's first strike and decapitated it. He crossed the finish line, and the end alarm sounded. Evan collapsed to a kneel as his master entered the room.

"Do you seek to disappoint me?" the master asked.

"No sir," Evan mumbled. Despite being exhausted, he didn't pant and did his best to keep his sweat glands under control too.

"Do you believe your performance was acceptable?" the master continued.

"…Yes sir."

Evan froze as his master looked at him. A hand reached out and wiped a lone bead of sweat off of Evan's forehead. Without a word, he backhanded Evan. Evan head jerked to the side with the impact, but nothing else.

"You are a disgrace to the Nakamura family name," Evan's master reminded him for the umpteenth time. "You will never bring honor to your name. Your mother would be ashamed. Disgusted."

The small part of Evan that was still free wanted to scream out "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU KILLED HER!" But that part of him was too small, and it grew smaller everyday. One day soon, his freedom would die. And he would be but a slave to The Pit's new master. Urunos.

"I will improve my commander," the boy said obediently. "I will not fail you."

"You had better not," the voice warned. "Now get out of my sight."

Evan bowed respectfully and head back to the start of the self-repairing course. The small part of Evan that was free swore that one day, he would kill his master, the one he had once called "father".

Back at outside the course, Ethan stood with Neroh, a godly son of Poseidon.

"You're too easy on him," Neroh scolded. "There is a price for failure. I think it his time he paid."

"I will make sure he is set straight," Ethan promised. "I believe reprimanding is in order.

After forty more runs through the simulator, Evan walked back to the tiny hellhole he was forced to call home. His body screamed to limp, for each ordinary step shot waves of pain up his spine. He ignored it. He always ignored to. When he got back to his "room"–which was really just a five by five cell with a deflated air mattress and a cardboard box to hold belongings–he took a single pinkie nail-sized ambrosia tablet and put a drop of nectar on each of his wounds. That was all the medical attention he received. Ever.

He curled into a ball to fit on his "bed" and let the pain put him to sleep. In a few hours though, he would have wished he'd stayed awake. Late at night, he was shaken awake by someone in a black mask and bloodied Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. In his hand he held a razor sharp knife.

Evan was an unbeatable fighter, but lack of rest, the grogginess of sleep, the pain from his barley beginning to heal wounds, and the confined space he was in slowed him down just enough for the intruder to pin him down, knife raised.

"Reprimanding is in order," the intruder told him. "Behold the price of failure."

The knife crept nearer and nearer to Evan's left eye. Throughout the entire base of The Pit, the boy's screams of agony were heard. From that day on, Evan Nakamura wore an eye patch to hide his empty socket.

_***Shudders* Well isn't that pleasant. On one hand, we have sweet little Alex and her parents trying to bring back two of their friends. On the other, we have Ethan abusing his son to turn him into a soulless killing machine. On the third hand (eww three hands..) I'm stuck in the past! What's the date anyway?*checks date*…Dear god. I have to go! Take it from here 1136!**_

_**1136: I told you call me 36! Ugh. What horrors await Evan in the future?What does Nico have in mind? What surprises await the di Angelo's (and Thalia, cuz she hasn't married Nico yet), as they try to bring back Percy and Annabeth? Will 003 get his a** out of 2001 before he gets re-blamed for the 9-11 incident? Tune in next time to find out! **_


	7. The Plans

_***pulls self out of what's left of the twin towers* YOUR DEAD 001! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD! Huh? Oh hey, well as you can see I failed to stop 001 from causing the 9-11 time travel incident. I swear when I get back to my time he will DIE. Until then, keep yourselves busy by reading this.**_

Thalia, Alex, and I were back at Camp Half-Blood going over the details of the plan. My original plan was a sketchy idea, and now it was up to all of us to fill in the blanks.

Thalia pulled out a picture that showed twelve rings. Each ring was for a different god.

"And these are?" I asked.

"The contingency plan," Thalia told me. "A long time ago, he senior demigods of the world built these rings to steal the powers of the gods in case they ever got too big for their thrones. But, the gods found out and depowered the rings. As added insurance, the rings were scattered across the world. Somewhere in…the Alps is where the ring for Hades is."

"So we're going to the tallest mountain range in the world to find a now useless magic ring to try and steal my dad's powers so I can bring back Percy and Annabeth in order for Annabeth to give birth to the child of the prophecy?"

"That's where the next interesting thing comes in," Thalia said. "Hephaestus was working on a certain device, like a…like a…super-power source. It could power anything. Unfortunately, it was sent to his junkyard for reasons I don't know."

"And we're gonna use that to power the ring?" I checked.

"That's right," Thalia confirmed.

"Can I come?" Alex asked.

Thalia put her hands on Alex's shoulders. "Sweetie, it's really cold in the Alps, and Mommy and Daddy have to go take care of some things."

Alex tilted her head to the side and gave her Bambi eyes along with a quivering lower lip. "Pweeeeeeaase?"

"I…uh…" Thalia tried, and then looked to me in desperation. "Daddy help me out here."

She shoved me forward and next thing I knew I was staring into Alex's cute face. "Pwease Daddy?"

I gave up and turned to Thalia. "What's wrong with taking her with us?"

"Whose side are you on?" Thalia whispered angrily.

"You try saying no to _that_," I said, pointing to Alex.

"But things could get dangerous," Thalia reminded.

"So?" I asked. "We could protect her better than any babysitter."

"I had like the whole camp due to take care of her," Thalia protested. "The Aphrodite cabin was up first, then the Hermes–"

"Oh no. I will not have my daughter in the same cabin as those prissy, pompous, self-righteous little pricks in the Aphrodite cabin. And as for the Hermes cabin, we do not need her turned into a little thief," I stated firmly.

"You just can't say no to her cute face," Thalia told me.

"Yeah pretty much," I confirmed.

"Weakling."

"You try it sometime," I challenged.

Thalia turned to Alex. "Alex, honey?"

Alex looked up. "Yes Mommy?"

Thalia froze up. A small whimper escaped Alex's throat, and Thalia caved. "You can come."

"YAY!" Alex shouted and jumped at Thalia, hugging her and refusing to let go.

I smiled. Alex was sweet, innocent, and yet cunningly manipulative. I really loved her. I may be eighteen. I may have lived for two years without knowing I was a father. I may not even be cut out for life as a dad, but I was going to try, because I loved Alex. And I loved Thalia.

Our first goal was already set. We were headed for Hephaestus's junkyard to find the super-power source first thing tomorrow, and then it was off to the Alps for the ring. From there we planned to steal my dad's powers just long enough to resurrect Percy and Annabeth. After that, all we would have to do is deal with a most likely pissed Hades.

After double-checking under Alex's bed for monsters, Thalia and I both went for our respective bunks. Dreams were a problem that night.

_I was looking at a girl about ten or eleven who looked a lot like Thalia, but her hair was longer and straight instead of spiky. Her eyes were also much darker, and she was wearing jean shorts and a black t-shirt. _

_She was hiding behind a car while someone or something kept tearing up the street looking for her. She was breathing heavily and sweating as she took off her necklace. It had a silver chain and hanging from it was a silver outlined black lightning bolt. She tapped the bolt and it transformed into a Stygian iron sword._

_Whatever was after her was getting closer. I heard the distinct sirens of Satyr Securities cars, but they weren't going to show up fast enough. The girl slowed her breathing a leapt from her hiding spot. Turns out it was a rapid baby dragon after her, and it lunged when it saw her._

_With reflexes that I could tell surprised herself, she dodged and stabbed into a chink in the scaly armor. The dragon vanished and the girl just stood there in shock. She looked down at her sword, but the only thing in her hands was her necklace. The first car pulled up, and two people hopped out, a satyr and a demigod in full battle armor._

_"What happened?" the satyr asked._

_"There…there was some kind of…_thing_. It attacked me while I was walking down the street, and then somehow my necklace turned into a sword and then it changed back and the monster turned to dust and–"_

_The satyr put a finger to her lips. "Easy now. Just stay calm. Can you tell me both of your parents' names?"_

_The girl nodded. "My parents are Thalia and Nico di Angelo."_

_The satyr and demigod looked at each other. "This just got complicated."_

The Pit POV

Adrian, Helen, Emilia, Jakrelaur, Shrimp, Neroh, Sophiee, Neve, Brock, and Benjamin were all gathered at the meeting room as Ethan walked in. He gave everyone a nod and the meeting got started.

"As you know, we've gathered limited information on the prophecy. We do, however, know it tells of a very powerful child of two half-bloods who will save all demigods from some horrible future and possibly stop an unstoppable killer. When we learned of Annabeth's pregnancy, we assumed she would be the one giving birth to the child of the prophecy," Ethan explained. "But now, recent discoveries show that the child of the prophecy may have already been born. Alex di Angelo, daughter of Thalia Grace and Nico di Angelo. Our current objective is to kill her, before she becomes a threat. We have information she's traveling with her parents to Hephaestus's scrap yard. Brock, take Sophiee with you and get rid of that girl."

"Why send them?" Neroh asked. "Why not send…another?"

"We don't need a third," Brock said. "And anyone who would try this mission solo would die."

"Perhaps you're right," Neroh said calmly.

"If that's it then," Ethan said, "let's get to work. Jakrelaur, I want you to go spar with Evan. Kid needs someone he can't beat up in under a minute."

Ethan glared at Benjamin, who was holding an ice pack to his head.

"Good luck buddy," Benjamin told Jakrelaur. "You'll need it."

As everybody left the room and Brock and Sophiee went off to kill Alex, Neroh stayed behind, and Evan entered the room.

"Today is your chance to prove yourself," Neroh told Evan. "Hunt down the di Angelo's, find out what they're up to, and when you have learned enough, kill them all."

"I will not fail," Evan promised.

For the briefest moment, Neroh wondered if it was morally correct to use a nine year old as an assassin. It wasn't, but neither was anything else The Pit did.

_**Here goes. *beep* Man the simplicicty of that always gets to me. But hey, get's you where you gotta go. That's right, I am back in my own time. Ooh and properly re-aged too.**_

_**002: *walks into room* YOUR OKAY! *hugs 003***_

_**003: Haven't we been over this?**_

_**002: Don't you have those stupid end-of-chapter-questions?**_

_**003: Not right now…*leans in to kiss 002***_

_**1336: Oh gross!**_

_**003: Well that killed the mood. Ahem. With both the plans of The Pit and the di Angelo's in motion, what's in store for both sides? Will Evan prove his worth as an assassin? Will Nico ever get the guts to propose to a certain daughter of Zeus? And can my life possibly get any cooler? Tune in next time to find out! **_


	8. Power Source: Check

_**003: WHERE IS HE?**_

_**Random dude with a Mexican accent: I don know I swear! He left a week ago man! Said he was gonna–**_

_**003: SHUT UP!**_

_**R.D.W.A.M.A: Yes sir.**_

_**003: you stole something. Return it.**_

_**R.D.W.A.M.A: *hands over flash drive containing chapter 8***_

_**003: Thanks.**_

"Ready?" I asked, carrying Alex and taking Thalia's hand.

"As we'll ever be," Thalia told me.

I pulled them both with me as I shadow traveled. We reappeared underneath a delivery truck just as it started up. Thalia rolled to the left while Alex and I went for the right. A belt loop on Alex's pants got snagged on the car and she was yanked out of my hands, suspended in the air by her pants.

"Alex!" I screamed, chasing after my daughter.

"Weeee!" Alex cheered happily.

A lightning bolt struck in front of the truck and it stopped. I ran over a got Alex while Thalia walked over, clearly pissed. The driver got one look at her and floored the gas.

"Next time, we get a sitter," she insisted.

"Maybe," I said.

Alex oohed and pointed behind us. "What's that?" She was pointing at the massive mound of godly junk in the middle of the desert. We'd made it. A fence blocked the way in, and a sign was on the fence that said: Keep Out Private Property.

I cut open the lock with my sword and we went in. A horrible feeling came over me. This was where Bianca died. She died because she took something from here. I slowly stopped walking, and Thalia looked at me with a worried face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Bianca," was all the answer I needed to give for Thalia to understand.

"We'll be fine Nico. We just have to– Where's Alex?"

We both looked around frantically, but we couldn't see her anywhere. That is, not until we heard an ear piercing scream coming from somewhere to the north. Thalia and I looked at each other for a second.

"Alex!" we both screamed and ran toward the sound of our little girl crying out for help.

An explosion went off, sending bits of metal flying. Another one went off. Finally, a third one went off right in front of us and Alex ran by, tripping along the way and falling on her face. Thalia picked her up in an instant and turned to face two figures that were approaching us. Thalia glared at them, brilliant blue electricity sparking from her eyes. Alex spat at them as black electricity sparked across hers.

The two figures showed up, revealing one girl I recognized as Sophiee from The Pit and some cyborg guy I didn't know, but I'm guessing he wasn't here to make friends. Sophiee held a wicked sharp two foot sword and the cyborg man transformed his hand into a cannon that had Greek fire blazing from the business end.

"Hand over the girl and nobody lives," Sophiee assured us.

"You touch her," I snarled, "and I will tear you apart."

"You don't want to fight an angry mother either," Thalia warned them.

Already thunder clouds began to darken over the sky and raging winds came through. Shadows deepened as skeletal hands clawed out of the ground. The two members of The Pit backed up a lot. I drew my sword as lightning crackled across the sky threateningly.

"You tell your boss it's gonna take a lot more than you to get to Alex," I said, and a chasm of hellfire opened up underneath them. They'd get out of the Underworld eventually, but not for a while.

"Nice work," Thalia told me as the clouds lifted and the skeletal hands retreated.

"Thanks. You too," I said back.

We both looked at Alex. "Why did you run off like that?"

Alex shrugged. "I found a tingy," she told us and held up a necklace. It had a silver chain and on it was a weirdly familiar black lightning bolt. No way. Alex swung the necklace chain around like a lasso, and it turned into a sword.

"See?" she asked. "Can I keep it? Pwease?"

Thalia and I looked at each other and then back at Alex. I had seen Alex using that necklace to save her life in the near future. I was all for it. Thalia though, wasn't.

"We can't let her take something from her, it's too dangerous," Thalia warned.

"We're already gonna take something from here. What's the harm in one more thing?" I asked.

The combined might of a reasonable argument and the puppy-dog face broke Thalia down easily enough.

"Alright you can keep it," she sighed.

"YAY!" Alex shouted and turned her sword back into a necklace and put it on. "Tanks Mommy."

Thalia looked at me teasingly. "See that? She thanked _me_."

"Get over yourself Thalia," I told her.

"I will as soon as you stop checking me out when I'm not looking," she told me smugly. Dang she's good.

"Whatever," I mumbled. "So what does this power thing look like?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Thalia admitted. "Maybe like a–"

"Dis way!" Alex pointed and jumped out of Thalia's arms.

"Alex wait!" we shouted and ran after her.

Alex led us through the maze of junk and scrap until we came to a stop in front of a black box with a message inscribed in gold.

"What's it say?" Thalia asked as I picked it up.

"It says: Warning. Unstable magic power source. Do not use under any circumstances, and never ever show it to Zeus. Ever. I think we found it. Good work Alex."

"How did she find it?" Thalia wondered.

"It feels funny," Alex explained. "Touch it Mommy,"

Thalia reached out and touched it, and electricity crackled across her body. Thalia jerked her hand away. I looked at Alex. Her own black electricity was already crackling slightly, and she wasn't even touching it. I wasn't getting anything from it though. Which, in Thalia-logic, meant:

"You're carrying it."

"Why?" I complained even as I picked it up.

"Because," Thalia told me, looking around. "I'm…carrying Alex!"

"I can walk," Alex said sweetly as Thalia lifted her up.

"No you can't," Thalia told her.

Alex let out an exasperated sigh she'd learned from Thalia. "Fine."

So I carried the scary magic box of death while Thalia carried the bundle of joy. As you can see, she got the easy job this time around. As we exited the yard, I heard something softly land behind us. I turned in time to see something dart into hiding.

Thalia turned too, and Alex whimpered in her arms. I slowly set down the box and drew my sword again. Thalia shifted to hold Alex more protectively. Something was after us. And odds were it was looking for a fight.

The Pit POV

"What do you mean he's gone?" Ethan asked.

"Just that boss," Jakrelaur told him. "I went to find him, and he wasn't there. I don't know how he got out."

In his chair, Neroh chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Ethan growled.

"Oh nothing," Neroh told him. "A crazed, killer nine-year old is on the loose, is all."

"This is no laughing matter," Ethan told him. "If that boy isn't found, who knows what could happen. Those camp idiots could corrupt his mind, make him think they care about him. Evan's destiny is to bring down Olympus, and nothing will get in the way of that."

"Except maybe incompetence," Neroh put in.

"He's been training since he was seven, he'll be well prepared when the time comes," Ethan defended.

"And what if that time is very soon?" Neroh asked. "Helen has already narrowed down the likely regions of where Urunos is hiding. Very soon we could have our weapon."

"Which is exactly why we need to find Evan," Ethan said.

_**001: Stay back! One more step and…and…*grabs 1136* I'll shoot him! I will!**_

_**003: Really? Cool. By dude. *leaves room***_

_**1136: What? *C4 blows open wall, bringing it down on 001***_

_**003: C'mon man. Do you have any idea how high my taxes would be if I didn't have a sidekick? I always got your back. Now, I gotta job to do. What's looking for a fight in the junkyard? Will Ethan find his son? What surprises await the di Angelos (and Thalia) in the Alps? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	9. Fight to Leave

_**003: turn around 001. Slowly.**_

_** 001: This is how it ends huh?**_

_** 003: Looks like it.**_

_**001: *prepares to draw handgun* One…**_

_** 003: *readies firearm* Twothreego! *fires pistol like it's a submachine gun* Well that was easy. Ha, I cheated. Anyway, he's dead, let's move on.**_

__"Who's there?" I asked. No response. "Come out now, and I won't–"

A small figure leapt out. It was a little kid. He was dressed in a brown jacket and torn up jeans. But this kid had an eye patch and a sword, so I wasn't taking any chances. Our blades clashed together with a satisfying clang before the kid spun away and kicked me in the stomach. I blocked his next sword strike and tried to trip him with one of my own, but he somersaulted over it and elbowed me in the face.

I staggered backward and readied my sword again. The kid ran forward but instead of swinging with the sword he stabbed it into the ground and used it like a pole vault to get air. Once up there he kicked me hard in the chest and I fell on my butt. He tried to stab my throat, but I blocked and managed to give him a cut on the cheek. I kicked him away and stood up, but he had already run back into the junkyard.

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted and ran after him.

As soon as I was inside a heap of metal fell toward me. One automaton owl flew by my head before exploding. I jumped away before I could get buried by the kids little surprise, but the next thing I knew his sword was at my throat. I swatted it away we traded blows again as I slowly backed him up against an old car with metal wings. He leapt onto the hood and I followed as our fight continued. I ducked under a swing aimed at my head and kicked him off the car. I was about to use my sword to pin him to the ground, but he rolled to the side and yanked a knife out of his jacket.

The knife missed my face by centimeters and I shadow traveled out of sight. I reemerged right behind him and delivered a kick before shadow traveling again in front of him. One slice of the sword later and his own blade was chopped in half as both halves went flying. He roared in anger and kicked me in the throat. He tried to get away, but I waved my hand a wall of rock shot up in front of him. He ran smack into it and I followed up by kicking him into a shadow, he disappeared as the forced shadow travel took him who knows where.

I was about to celebrate when I saw a flash of lightning and saw sparks fly. I ran back for the exit, fearing the worst. I made it out in time to see Thalia fighting a giant bronze statue of Clint Eastwood while holding Alex. I jumped and stabbed my sword into the automaton's back, but they don't feel pain. Instead he just yanked me off with my sword still in his back.

Thalia jumped out of the way as the automaton drew a giant bronze gun and fired off several massive bullets. One hit near where she was standing and she lost her footing. In desperation, she threw Alex toward me. The throw wasn't good enough, and Alex lost momentum before she got to me. I dove forward and caught her just before she hit the ground. My relief was short lived as a cannon ball sized bullet smashed into the ground to my right. Alex jumped out of my arms and ran for her life while Thalia and I regrouped.

"Go left, I got right," she told me and sprinted off.

"Wait!" I shouted, but she was already gone. I sighed. "I don't have a sword!"

I ended up charging him empty handed. I kicked it in its shin, but that hurt me more than him. Thalia on the other hand was stabbing and bashing with her shield and spear. I jumped onto his back and instead of pulling my sword out I yanked down, widening the puncture. I must've sliced something important, because the giant automaton Clint Eastwood started flailing around like he was on fire. I was thrown off, but at least this time I had my sword. Thalia slid in between his legs and came out on the other side. Clint clutched his crotch in pain, and Thalia fired off electricity from her spear and into the hole I'd made in his back. He promptly exploded.

Alex ran back to us from where ever it is she had been. She tripped once near the end, but I caught her. In her hands was the black box we'd come here for.

"Well," I said, "that was fun."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Lots!"

Thalia brushed some hair out of her face. "We did do awesome, huh?"

"What is this thing anyway?" I asked.

Alex took off the lid to reveal a six-inch long sliver of Celestial bronze the sparked and crackled with electricity. When Alex lifted it out of the bow, it started roared to life. Sparks danced across the metal and electricity arced off of it.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked.

"A sliver of the master bolt," Thalia confirmed. "Hephaestus must've been trying to stabilize it."

"Judging by what it says on the box," I put in, "he never did."

"Alex honey, put it away," Thalia insisted. Alex obeyed and closed it back in the box.

__"Alright. Now we just need the ring," I said confidently. "But where the Hades would that be?"

"We know it's somewhere in the Alps," Thalia reminded. "But that's a huge area to cover. We could spend our entire lives searching, die, hand the job off to Alex, and have her search all her life and we still wouldn't find it."

"There's gotta be someone who would know," I insisted.

"The people who built them maybe?" Thalia asked. "Perseus, Theseus, and Daedalus."

"They're all dead," I reminded her.

"And where would they be at the moment?" Thalia asked with a smirk.

"The Underworld," I smiled. "So we're going back there. Slight problem though. Soon as we go there, Alex and you are gonna give tip him off to the fact that we're there because he'll sense something other than death in the his kingdom. But I'm his son. My presence doesn't give off a different vibe compared to the Underworld. I could get in and out unnoticed."

"So you're going to the Underworld alone?" Thalia asked to confirm.

"That's about right," I told her. "Don't worry I practically own the place. You guys can just sit this one out at camp."

Thalia glared. "I don't think so. You just figure out if they know where the rings are. Alex and I have plans."

"What plans exactly?" I asked, getting worried now.

Thalia winked. "Call it a girls' night out."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. So, California here we come?"

And since I was too tired from all that fighting to shadow travel, we walked to the nearest town and got a cab for L.A.

"Know how much that's gonna cost?" the cab drive asked.

I hefted him a gold brick I'd pulled from the ground earlier. "You can keep the change. Just drive."

He stared at the gold like he couldn't believe it was there. He even started to drool a bit. But he did not start driving. I sighed and pulled my sword out, pointing it at his throat.

"Drive."

He did.

Evan POV

I stumbled out of the girl's locker room at some high school in France. Damn you di Angelo. When I get my hands on him he is so going to die. Along with his girlfriend, his little girl, and that annoying wiener dog that's been yapping at my heels for the past eight blocks. I can't call for help, it would only mean further punishment. I had to improvise. How could I get from France to where ever it was di Angelo had gone.

I needed time to think. I needed a weapon other than my extra throwing knife. I needed more information. I needed… I heard my stomach grumble loudly, reminding me I hadn't eaten in almost a week. Even by the my standards, I needed food.

I started digging through dumpsters, looking for either money or food. I found nothing. I went across the city, which I later learned was Paris, until I ended up digging in a garbage can at an airport. I found half a bagel and a ticket for a flight to L.A. I checked the ticket. The flight left in an hour. I'd seen di Angelo send Sophiee and Brock to the Underworld. They could still be there, and they might know where he was headed. Smiling, I found and boarded the flight.

Thalia's POV

The cab driver let us out in front of DOA record studios and speed away like he was being chased by the cops.

"Did you have to threaten him like that?" I asked.

"Hey it worked," Nico defended.

"Yes, but Alex was right there," I said, going into mom-mode. "She already learned to use the puppy dog face. Now thanks to you, whenever that doesn't work, she'll try threatening people with a sword!"

"Oh relax," he scoffed. "I'm sure she's smart enough to realize I'm stupid and that would never work."

"Daddy you're so smart," Alex said as she skipped happily in a circle.

"Or not," Nico admitted. "But c'mon look at all that joy and innocence, she's nothing like me."

"Yeah for now. But just wait till she goes through every parents worst nightmare," I reminded, grimacing.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Puberty."

"Oh gods," Nico gagged. "I'm just gonna go talk to dead people now. You two go do whatever."

Nico entered the Underworld leaving me with Alex who had stopped skipping.

"Wha do we now Mommy?" Alex asked.

_**Yes Mommy, what do you do now? And meanwhile, what has Evan got planned? Are Brock and Sophiee still in the Underworld? Will Perseus, Theseus, or Daedalus know where the rings are. And if they don't know, who does? All this and more next time, so tune in!**_


	10. Divided We Fall

_**1136: Why does he always leave me with the hard jobs? Clean the toilets on Taco Fridays (What? Not everybody does Taco Tuesdays!), battle the giant robot, handle this chapters opening AN, always go out in public dressed either as Spider-Man or a bunny. I HATE YOU 003!**_

_**003: I know. **_

Thalia's POV

"We see if we're being followed," I told Alex, not sure she understood though.

"Otay," she said.

I wasn't sure if The Pit had anyone else after us, but if they were close I was going to draw them out. That's how Alex and I found ourselves on top of the sickeningly high US Bank Tower, which rose seventy-three stories above the ground. Telling Alex to go sit down, I summoned up a pretty decent sized lightning storm that flared and struck across the roof. If anyone from The Pit was stalking us, they'd know what the lightning meant.

"Wonder if they got the message," I mumbled after a few minutes.

"Oh I got it," I heard a voice say. "Hello Thalia. Going it alone I see."

"Helen," I seethed as I drew my spear and spun around.

"So, where's your man? Or did he leave again?" Helen teased.

"He's ring shopping," I shot back, because in a funny way that was true. He was looking for a ring, just not _the _ring.

"Well then, wedding present anyone?" Helen laughed.

She snapped her fingers, and my spear turned into a snake. I gasped and threw it across the roof.

"Is that all you got?" I shouted.

Helen waved her hand and I slowly started sinking into the roof like it was quicksand. Damn I hate magic.

Evan POV

It wasn't hard getting into the Underworld, I just had to cling to the side of Charon's boat as it left. Getting past Cerberus took a little more effort, and I ended up riding him like a bull for a bit before jumping off and onto the other side. But I'd set off some kind of living alarm or something, because the next thing I knew I was being chased by security ghouls. I lost them somewhere in the Fields of Asphodel, but as I looked around, I realized I was lost in the fields. Apparently, I wasn't the only one.

"I'm telling you we're lost!" I heard a guy say. "Just ask for directions!"

"I'm sorry," a girl sarcastically apologized, "but do you speak Dead?"

It was Sophiee and Brock. It had to be. It was pretty easy to find them. They were the ones rudely shoving aside any spirit that got in their way. I was behind them in an instant.

"You two," I greeted. "Where's the son of Hades and his family?"

They both spun around. Brock transformed his hand into a buzz saw and Sophiee drew her sword. They lowered their weapons when they saw it was me though.

"Aren't you supposed to be back with The Pit short stack?" Sophiee asked.

I grabbed Sophiee by the shirt and shoved her to the ground, hard. "I don't have time for this! Do you hear me? Where are they?"

Brock yanked me off of her and his saw started spinning again. "Easy little guy. We don't even know where we are. How could we know where Nico and Thalia are?"

"You people are useless," I spat and walked off, finding my way out of the Fields of Asphodel surprisingly quickly after that.

Nico's POV

My first stop was Elysium, where I hoped to find at the very least Perseus. Theseus, well he did abandon that girl like that, so I wasn't entirely sure where the judges sent him. I stopped at the gates. I'd never actually gone inside Elysium before. Slowly, I entered. I was met by a huge block party with people dancing in the streets and spilling their drinks.

I shook my head. This part of Elysium was too modern. The classic era section would have Perseus. Besides, if I stayed in the modern era part of Elysium too long, I might run into a different Perseus.

When I got to the classical area, I found Perseus fighting in the gladiator pits. Swords clashed, and both Perseus and his opponent staggered back. They were already dead, so they didn't have to worry about getting killed. They could just have fun beating each other up.

A large crowd was watching the fight, cheering. One girl in particular was excited.

"Alright! Knock him on his butt! Woo!" It took me a second to realize that was Princess Andromeda, cheering for her husband.

I waited until after the fight to talk to him.

"Excuse me, Perseus," I called. He turned around.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Do you remember those rings you helped create in case the gods ever got carried away?" I asked.

Perseus slowly nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"We're gonna need the Hades ring, and I was wondering if you would no where it was," I told him.

Perseus shook his head. "Only one who would know that is Hades, and he won't tell you. You would have had to have been there when the rings were scattered. Obviously, you weren't."

"Good point," I sighed. "Thank you for your time."

This was a bit of a problem. I can't travel through time…But there might be someone who can. Question is, am I willing to cross that line? I left Elysium pondering my choice. Part of me was screaming: DON'T DO IT! NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AND NOT FOR ANY REASON! But a (thankfully) much quieter part was telling me: It's the only way.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn't notice the footsteps behind me until it was too late.

"Die!" a voice ordered.

I spun around in time to see the kid from the junkyard. I drew my sword and swatted him aside. He landed on his feet with his own knife drawn. Our blades clashed again, and our fight started. The kid was good, I'll give him that. He fought with surprising speed and skill, and since I was trying to avoid killing him, he had something of an upper hand. I hilt-slammed his stomach and kicked him under the chin, knocking him into the air.

He kicked out with both legs, hitting me squarely in the chest. He landed on his feet again, and I got knocked on my ass. I rolled to the side as he stabbed down, which left him wide open to attack. I grabbed his arm with my left hand and used my right hand to bring the hilt of my sword down sharply on his shoulder. He cried out in pain and kicked me where I hate being kicked.

We both tried to get over or shocks of pain, and he recovered first as he forced his dislocated shoulder back into place. He swung with his knife, almost taking my head off. I managed to dodge and counter by giving him a cut across his armpit. He staggered back and threw the knife.

The blade embedded into my hand and I dropped my sword. The kid charged and ripped his knife from my hand. I punched him in the stomach and threw him to the ground, but he just kept coming.

"Who are you!" I shouted as I yanked the knife out of his hands and kneed him in the face.

"Your death!" was the only response I got out of him.

He tackled me to the ground and punched me in the face a few times before I kicked him off of me and scrambled for my sword.

Just as he came up behind me, I spun around and sliced, and his shirt tore open to reveal a line of blood. He staggered back, angry.

"Surrender while you still have the chance," I ordered.

In response, he flipped me off and ran deeper into the Underworld. I was tempted to follow him, but something told me it was better if I go now.

_**1136: As if this stupid bunny costume wasn't enough, he's making me do the closing AN too! Ugh. Will Thalia survive her fight with Helen, and what about Alex? What was Nico thinking about doing when Evan attacked? And how long before Ethan takes things into his own e-vile hands? Tune in next time to watch me STRANGLE 003!**_


	11. On Our Own

_**003: Done yet?**_

_**1136: Let me go you jerk! I swear as soon as you let go of me I will destroy you! DESTROY YOU!**_

_**003: Bad little sidekick. Bad. *sprays with squirt bottle***_

_**1136: ACK! What was that *gets hit with more spray* WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!**_

_**003:…*sprays again***_

"Well Thal," Helen laughed as Alex struggled in her grip, "it was nice chatting but I really must be going. Tell Nico I said hi."

She teleported off, leaving me up to my shoulders in the quicksand-like roof. I struggled and groaned, but I think that just made me sink even faster. To make matters worse, the snake that was once my spear was slithering toward me with its tongue darting out.

I continued to sink, now down to my chin. I only had one chance left. I focused on the clouds above me, controlling the weather and re-shaping them. I looked up to see that yes, the clouds were now shaped to look like the sentence: Nico help!

I added lightning that struck the building I was on repeatedly. _Please let him see it_. I sank to my top lip, forced to breathe through my nose only. Nico hadn't shown up yet, and my nostrils were a centimeter from going under. I was done for.

Nico's POV

I walked out of the Underworld and saw it. The clouds slowly rearranging themselves into letters. _Nico help!_ Lightning struck the US Bank Tower, and I knew Thalia was up there. I stepped into my own shadow and shadow traveled to the top of the building. At first I didn't see anything, but then I saw the dark hair, and realized that Thalia had sunk almost to her eyes.

"Thalia hand on!" I shouted.

I ran to her, but was stopped by a snake. "Whoa! When did that get there?"

As Thalia continued to sink, I grabbed the snake by the head and cracked it like a whip. It went rigid and turned into Thalia's spear. _Cool._ I ran over to Thalia, and suddenly my leg sank into the ground to the knee. I struggled to pull myself out, but I only started sinking faster.

In desperation I reached down into the quicksand-like roof and pulled Thalia out as I continued to sink. I pulled her out up to midway on her thigh before she summoned her strength and pulled one of her legs out. From there she got all the way out and then pulled me.

"Where's Alex?" I panted.

Thalia looked like she was going to puke. "I was trying to draw out anyone following us. Helen showed up and…"

"Oh gods…" I breathed.

My whole world turned upside down and inside out. I felt like I was about to faint, and at the same time I was furious as demigodly possible.

"She'd after something," I mused. "Alex would be dead by now if she didn't." Thalia nodded. "If it's a beating and a one-way ticket to Tartarus she wants, I'm happy to oblige."

"This is crazy," I told myself. "If you were Helen, where would you have taken Alex?"

"I would kill myself if I was Helen," Thalia spat.

"Good point," I admitted. "Wait. Isn't teleporting a form of air travel?"

"Yeah," Thalia said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Can you trace her path through the air?" I asked hopefully.

"I've never tried," Thalia admitted, "but…"

She closed her eyes. "Got her. She's in…the Alps? Why would she go there?"

"She's looking for the Hades ring," I realized. "How would she know where it is? How would she even know we were looking for it?"

"I don't know, but if we're going to follow them we need to catch up. Lightning travel time."

A lightning strike later and we were freezing our asses off on an icy mountain. I shivered, but did my best to ignore the cold for now.

"How close is she?" I asked.

"Right here," a voice said.

"Do you always do that?" I asked.

Helen shrugged. "Maybe. It's good to see you again too Nico."

"Will you stop flirting with him and tell us where Alex is?" Thalia spat.

Helen rolled her eyes. "Oh her?"

She snapped her fingers and a bird cage holding Alex appeared. Thalia threw her spear at Helen, who dodged and teleported to who knows where. Thalia ran to the cage and got Alex out. Alex was pale and her lips were blue. She was shivering like crazy. I suddenly found myself kicked into the snow bank. I turned around to see Helen. I drew my sword, but it was ripped from my hands by an unseen force.

My sword landed next to Thalia's spear, leaving me unarmed. I tried to kick Helen in the stomach, but she dodged and judo-threw me to the floor. Again I hit the snow face first. Thalia kicked Helen away from me and followed up by dislocating Helen's shoulder.

Helen in turn kneed Thalia in the stomach and then pulled her fist back like she was going to punch Thalia. Instead Thalia clutched her throat as the air was ripped from her lungs. I desperately crawled to my sword as the cold set in and my muscles went rigid. I reached it, and threw it at Helen. She saw it coming and teleported away, but at least now Thalia could breathe. The cold was getting to her now too, and she barely had the strength to crawl to Alex, who had fallen in the snow.

We all huddled together shivering, too weak with cold to move or save ourselves. Helen came back and smiled smugly when she saw us.

"It would seem as though you're all going to die," she said. "Any last words?"

Alex spoke up. "B-b-b****!"

"Alex!" Thalia scolded.

"I'll be going now," Helen told us, and walked off.

"We need to h-heat up," I stammered.

"H-h-hang on," Thalia said. "This is g-gonna hurt."

A lightning bolt struck us, but instead of transporting us it just sort of struck us at temperatures hotter than the sun's surface. True it was warm, but it hurt. A lot. I stood up before the cold could freeze me in place again, as did Thalia and Alex.

"Do you think Helen found the ring?" I asked.

Thalia shook her head as she picked up Alex. "No. She wasn't here long enough to find it. But she knows where to look."

"We have to find that ring," I emphasized. "But first we need to find a way to stay warm."

Alex pointed over to our left. We looked and saw the cave that had caught her attention. Inside it was cold but bearable. We all huddled together to keep warm. Alex soon fell asleep on my lap, and it was just me and Thalia.

"How are we gonna find one little ring in these mountains?" Thalia asked.

"We could go back in time to when the rings were scattered," I suggested. "But that would require talking with what's left of a certain lord of time. And I'm not sure I can cross that line."

"No, we can't," Thalia said. "And if any of the gods found out about this and told Zeus about the bolt sliver or Hades about the ring, we'd be dead."

"We're on our own," I sighed.

Thalia snuggled deeper into me. "We can do this on our own."

I smiled. "Yeah. We probably can."

_**Okay. That's that. This was almost a very different chapter but I changed my mind and redid the whole thing so anyway…**_

_**Will they find the Hades ring? What's Evan got planned? And how long until The Pit tries something else? Tune in next time to find out! **_


	12. Ring: Check & Uncheck

_**1136: Who the heck are you?**_

_**Owch: I'm the pizza delivery guy. Would you like a pizza? *points AK-47 at 1136***_

_**1136: Is the pizza in the gun?**_

_**Owch: Hehe. You could say that…**_

The next morning we woke up feeling stiff and cold, but alive. Alex stretched as she yawned, accidentally kicking me where I hate being kicked. I grunted in pain but otherwise was fine.

"I'm wondering something," Thalia said as we all stood up. "Why didn't Helen kill us when she had the chance?"

"She used Alex as bait to get us out here, so for some reason her or The Pit want us out here, looking for the ring," I reasoned.

"We'd better not disappoint them then," Thalia said. "Let's find the ring."

"There's got to be a way to track it," I mumbled. "Maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Thalia asked.

"The ring is designed to absorb Hades' energy," I reminded them. "But I can give off almost the exact same energy. And if the ring is at all close…"

I threw my arms up, and an inky cloud of darkness flew from my body. It swirled above our heads for a bit before flying off into the mountains.

"Follow that shadow energy!" I shouted.

Thalia sprinted off after it, and as soon as Alex jumped securely onto my back I was right behind her. The black energy was moving fast, and it was hard to keep up. Once we lost it completely, and twice I was running too fast and fell on my face. The mountains were a tricky terrain, and we were climbing about as much as we were running.

The energy finally disappeared when the side of the mountain sucked it in like a vacuum. I drew my sword and started hacking away at the ice and rock. Thalia took out her spear and helped, and meanwhile Alex was still huddled against my back. I'm not sure how long exactly we were slicing at the mountain, but eventually my sword struck something other than ice and rock, and small burst of energy blew me and Thalia backward.

Alex crawled out from underneath me with snow in her hair and on her clothes. She gave me a glare, but for some reason she still looked innocent and adorable. I let out a laughed. I stood up and got a look at what my sword had struck. As soon as I saw it a smile broke out on my face.

Thalia came up next to me to get a look as well. We both looked at each other.

"We found it," Thalia said smiling.

I reached in and after tugging a bit, pulled the ring out of the frozen side of the mountain. The ring was a silver skull ring with ruby eyes that had no sparkle. Thalia took out the black box and held it up to the ring. The ruby eyes started to glow as electricity arced from the box into the ring. The ring was soon fully charged.

"Daddy found da wing!" Alex yelled.

"We did it," I breathed. "All that's left now is to–"

"Hand the ring over," a voice said.

We spun around to see the kid who'd been following us, Sophiee, and Benjamin behind us. They all wore warm winter wear, and jealousy crept through my mind as I realized again how cold I was. They all drew their weapons. Thalia and I drew ours.

"You want the ring?" I asked. "Your gonna have to take it."

"Oh, and we're going to have to kill your daughter too," Benjamin added. "Helen should've done it but the damn witch decided to use her as bait instead. True it got us the ring, but it was still stupid. I swear if we didn't need her for–"

"For what?" Thalia asked.

Benjamin smiled. "None of your business." He looked to his two escorts. "Kill them, kill the girl, get the ring and the box."

I tossed Thalia the ring and she put it in the box with the bolt sliver. Thalia took off running, and I ran away in the other direction with Alex in my arms. I didn't like splitting up, but then again it was for the best.

Sophiee and the kid followed me, expertly keeping pace with me despite the terrain. The kid leapt forward and kicked me to the ground. Alex jumped from my arms as I fell and took off, with the killer little boy in close pursuit. I was about to help her, but Sophiee landed in front of me.

Our blades clashed as our fight began. I brought my sword down hard, slicing her blade in half. She hilt-slammed me in the temple in response. She was about to stab me with what was left of her sword, but I waved my hand and two skeleton warriors leapt out of the ground and tackled her. I sprinted off in the direction Evan and Alex had gone.

I rounded a snow bank and saw Alex lying in the snow with a cut on her forehead and Killer Boy hovering above her, about to finish her. I hurled my sword at him, and it sliced his side open. He fell to the ground as the snow around him tuned red. I scooped up Alex and my sword before taking off in search of Thalia.

Thalia's POV

Benjamin was still chasing me through the mountains, but he was still far behind me. Up ahead the mountain ended abruptly in a cliff, but that didn't stop me. I just kept running and when the cliff came, I jumped. I cleared the jump and landed on the snow bank of the mountain on the other side. Benjamin jumped after me, making the jump as well. I swung my spear around and ended up smacking him in the face with the shaft.

He drew his two knives and pounced, but I blocked him and shoved him back. He backed up and slowly circled me. This guy fought like a cat. He leapt forward again, this time slicing my spear in half. I knocked him the ground with one half that didn't have a point and stabbed him in the gut with the other half that did.

He coughed up blood before I kicked him off the mountain. Just as he disappeared in the snow far below, Nico and Alex came up.

"Where's Benjamin?" Nico asked.

"Gone," I answered. "Sophiee and the other one?"

"Not sure. But neither of them will be bugging us for a while," Nico assured me.

"Good. Alex are you okay?" I asked my daughter.

Alex shook her head. "My head hurts."

I took Alex in my arms and kissed Alex's forehead.

"Do you still have the ring?" Nico asked.

"Yeah it's…" my voice trailed off, because I couldn't feel the box anymore. "Oh gods. Benjamin got it."

"He must be taking it back to The Pit right now," Nico cursed.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. He's dead. We need to find his body before Sophiee and her friend can."

"This is crazy," Nico muttered.

"It's us remember?" I joked.

We slid down the side of the mountain down to where Benjamin's body had fallen. Sophiee and the other kid were already there, taking the box from their comrades' body. Sophiee saw us first.

"Evan, since your not even supposed to be here, you kill them while I run," Sophiee told him.

Evan grimaced. For the first time I noticed his side was bloody. I didn't think he'd be able to fight, but I was wrong. Evan jumped forward, no sword, no armor, and a blood stain body. He kicked me to the ground and punched Nico in the face. We both fell to the ground, and Evan jumped on top of Nico and started pummeling him.

I would've helped, but Alex beat me to it. She took off her necklace and spun it, transforming it into sword form. The Stygian iron looked even blacker against the white snow. She hit Evan in the back of the head with the flat of it. Evan collapsed, unconscious. Nico shoved the body off of him and stood up.

Alex turned her sword back into a necklace and replace it on her neck. I took off after Sophiee, following the tracks in the snow. I soon caught up, and before long I was almost with reach. In desperation she kicked backward, but I had jumped at her at the same instant, and we both rolled to the ground. The black box containing the ring and bolt sliver rolled away, almost falling off the mountain.

I scrambled up after it, but Sophiee grabbed my ankle. Meanwhile the box continued to slowly slide over the edge.

I kicked her off and grabbed the box, but ended up punched in the face by Sophiee as she took the box back. Sophiee was struck by lightning, but she held onto the box. I was about t hit her with more lightning when the chopping of helicopter blades filled my ears.

Sophiee smiled as her ride showed up. She jumped for the ladder dangling from the helicopter, and it flew away into the sky.

Nico and Alex showed up a second later. They saw the copter as it continued to fly away.

"They're not gone yet we can still catch them," Nico insisted.

"How?" I asked.

"How strong is your control over the wind?"

_**And that concludes that chapter. Can they catch that helicopter? What happens once they get the ring? Are Percy and Annabeth the only ones to be resurrected? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	13. Breakout Part 1

_**002: It wasn't your fault. There's no way you could've–**_

_**003: Owch was my responsibility. So was 36. So now, I'm going to set things straight. I'm going to get 1136 back.**_

_**002: Not again. You know what happened last time you time traveled. If that happens again you might**_

_**003: He's my sidekick. What else should I do? Take care of Owch while I'm gone would you?**_

"I can't fly us out to them if that's what you're thinking," Thalia told me.

"Just get us to the ladder," I insisted.

Thalia closed her eyes, and hurricane force winds blew the three of us off our feet and out into open air. I grabbed the ladder as I flew past, and so did Alex. Thalia however was blown a bit wide though, and she had to grab onto my legs. Sophiee looked down at us and climbed up the ladder.

I tried to climb after her, but Thalia weighed me down. By the time Thalia grabbed onto the ladder and I was down to just my weight, Sophiee had already gotten inside the helicopter and had started to the cut the ladder ropes. I scrambled up the ladder as fast as I could, and I reach the helicopter just as Sophiee finished cutting the ladder. I grabbed one of the rungs with one hand as my other clung to the helicopter. I cried out in pain as the combined weight of Thalia and Alex suddenly yanked on my shoulder.

Sophiee was about to stab me in the head, but I dodged. She raised the sword again, about to stab. Thalia climbed up the ladder and jumped up. She tackled Sophiee and they both tumbled into the helicopter. Alex climbed up and into the copter as well, and finally I pulled myself up. Thalia soon had Sophiee pinned to the floor, and she got the box back from Sophiee.

"I'm sorry, but do either of you know how to fly a helicopter?" Sophiee asked smugly.

I looked at Thalia. She shook her head. I couldn't fly this crate either. We both looked to the pilot seat to see Shrimp piloting the helicopter. He looked at us and let out a low growl. We backed up.

"Take us back to The Pit Shrimp," Sophiee ordered. "Inform them we have prisoners."

"Prisoners?" Thalia hissed.

"Since when are we prisoners?" I added.

"Because you don't want Shrimp to break Alex's neck," Sophiee said evilly.

Shrimp held up one hand to show he was holding Alex by the throat. She was kicking and struggling, but Shrimp kept a firm grip.

Thalia and I both sat down in passenger seats of the helicopter. Sophiee smiled smugly, believing she'd won. But she hadn't. She'd just gotten herself added to my "kill on sight" list. And Thalia's "kill, bury, dig up, clone, and then kill all the clones" list. As soon as Alex was out of harm's way, Sophiee was dead. So were Shrimp and the rest of The Pit.

I fell asleep in my seat, and dreams took over.

_"Nico! Good to see you man!" Connor greeted._

_"Connor?" I asked. "But you're…"_

_"Dead?" Connor asked with a smile. "Yeah I am. But so is he."_

_He pointed to Luke, Percy, and Annabeth. My jaw dropped. "You're…all…"_

_"Sitting around waiting for Percy and Annabeth to leave," Luke finished._

_"You guys know about the resurrection?" I asked._

_Percy nodded. "From the first time you tried we knew. I heard you came through here earlier. And you didn't say hi?"_

_"Sorry I was there on business," I told them. "But really, soon I should be able–"_

_"To bring us all back?" Luke filled in._

_I thought about it. I admit I'd been entertaining the idea of bringing more than just Percy and Annabeth. I could've brought back Connor, Luke, Beckondorf, Silena, Michael, Castor, Bianca, my mom, the list goes on and on. And with Hades' power, I could do that._

_"Don't even think about it Nico," Luke said. "Most people don't get a second chance. It's crazy enough that Percy and Annabeth get one. But the rest of us…we're dead. And laws of nature would like us to stay that way. Besides if we ever really miss living we can go with rebirth."_

_"So you guys are here to tell me _not _to bring you back?" I asked. "Just Percy and Annabeth?" _

_"Yeah pretty much," Connor said. "But tell Travis I said hi."_

_"I'll do that," I promised. "I guess I'll see you guys later."_

_"Hey if we don't come to you, you might end up coming to us," Connor joked._

I woke up in my seat. Thalia was still asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. I looked around. Sophiee was gone, Shrimp was gone, Alex was gone, and the helicopter wasn't moving. All the doors were also shut. I tested one. Locked from the outside.

"Where are we?" Thalia asked as she woke up.  
"I think we're at The Pit's base," I answered. "They locked us in the helicopter. They must have Alex."

"Or they already killed her," Thalia said grimly.

"I would felt that. She's still alive," I insisted. "We have to get out of here."

Thalia tried the door. Needless to say it didn't open. She gave it her best kick, and it buckled slightly at the hinges. I instinctively reached for my sword, but it was gone. Thalia kicked again, busting the door completely off its hinges. We were free.

"Nice work," I said and jumped out. Thalia followed.

We were in a small hangar. Aside from the helicopter there was and armored jeep, a dragon curled up in a ball asleep, and a small submarine, halfway submerged in a pool that probably let out into the ocean.

We found a door out of there pretty quickly, and soon found ourselves in a maze of hallways. Twice we had to duck into a corner to avoid being spotted by people passing by. I didn't recognize anybody who passed by us. The Pit had more members than it was letting on.

We kept walking, but Thalia heard footsteps coming from up ahead.

"Hide," she ordered.

I looked to the nearest door and opened it. It was too dark to see into, but we both hid inside anyway and I shut the door.

"How are we supposed to find Alex in this place?" I asked. "We don't even know where we're going."

"She's our daughter we have to try," Thalia insisted. "Ow! Something sharp just poked me. Is there a light switch or something in here?"

I felt around for a switch. I found something, and flicked it. Instead of lights turning on, the room began to spin and soon we found ourselves in another room, this one lit up by a hearth in the middle of the room.

"Revolving wall," I muttered.

"Secret passage way into this room too," Thalia added.

"Cliché, but convenient," I said. I looked back at the wall behind us that had once been part of that small dark room. Propped up against it was my sword, and Thalia's shield spear, good as new.

"No, that's convenient," Thalia said as she picked up her spear and shield.

I grabbed my sword as well. What was this place supposed to be? No sooner had I wondered it than a table slowly rose out of the floor along with several chairs. Two huge doors at the far end of the room opened, and Thalia and I quickly hid under the table that had shown up.

"Welcome," a voice said, hopefully not to us. "If you could all please take your seats, we can begin."

People sat in the chairs surrounding the table, and almost kicked Thalia and me. We held our breaths, hoping no one would notice us.

"Alright, I'm calling this meeting to order. Is everybody here? Good. First order of business, we've been getting a lot of new recruits lately…"

"We are so dead," I whispered. "The second this meeting is over, they're all going to stand up, someone is going to kick us, and then they'll all kill us."

"Shut up!" Thalia whispered back. "We're gonna get out of this."

"How?" I asked in disbelief.

"…I don't know," Thalia admitted. "But we have to try. How else are we going to find–"

"Second order of business," the voice announced. "We need ideas on how to properly dispose of Alex di Angelo. Bring her in Shrimp."

_**Uh-oh. As you can see next chapter is another fight scene, and...possible Thalico kiss/proposal? Can Nico and Thalia rescue Alex? Will they escape The Pit alive? Is Ethan gonna get up off his fat ass and them himself this time? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	14. Breakout Part 2

_**003: Ugh I hate writing on the fly. I never got a chance to plan this chapter out because I was busy fighting Owch, and now Obama is president because of my time travel meddling. What's that? He was always president? No you just think that. Time travel is confuzzling folks.**_

We heard doors open and someone walk in. We also heard Alex struggling against whoever was bringing her in. Thalia and I tensed, tempted to jump out right now and get our daughter back. But we forced ourselves to wait.

"Honestly I don't know why we're waiting," a voice said. "Let's just get a sword a slit her throat right now."

"Where's your sense of finesse?" a different voice said. "At least tie her to a target and put an arrow in her."

"How about I just strangle her right now?" Shrimp suggested. "Already got my hands on her throat."

"Will somebody just kill her already?" a voice who I recognized as Ethan cried.

The only thing that saved Alex from being snapped like a twig by Shrimp was the distraction provided by a certain junior killer. The doors burst open again, and somebody walked in.

"Don't kill that girl," the kid insisted.

"Evan?" Ethan asked. "Where have you been?"

"Tracking down that girl and her parents," Evan answered. "And I don't disappoint. You want the rest of that girl's family? There right here!"

The table flipped over, almost crushing a few people's legs, but more importantly Thalia and I were exposed. Every member of The Pit drew their weapons, and we drew ours. But it was Alex who made the first move. Using our distraction, she bit down into Shrimp's hand and he dropped her. Alex made a run for it, with Evan in hot pursuit. Thalia and I shot forward against The Pit. Oh boy.

Jakrelaur and Adrian were my first opponents. I dodged both their initial attacks and kicked Adrian to the ground. Jakrelaur threw two throwing axes, both of which I deflected off my sword. I swung, but his glowing red axe deflected my blade like a pebble. When his axe hit me however, I went flying across the room. I smashed against the wall, and Emilia and Shrimp ran up to corner me.

Dark tendrils shot out of my hands and wrapped around Shrimp, who would've been the bigger threat. After draining his energy, I fired off a black stream of energy at Emilia. The blast hit her in the chest, and she was blown back.

Thalia was fighting against Adrian and Brock. Adrian tried to slice her hand off, but she blocked with Aegis and shield bashed him to the side. Before he could get up, he found my sword in his chest. He gasped before going limp. I pulled my sword out and sliced Brock's hand off while he was busy with Thalia. As he turned to me, Thalia ran through him with her spear.

All that was left was Jakrelaur, Sophiee, Helen, and Evan. Jakrelaur came forward, throwing axes at us as he came. Thalia and I leapt aside before Thalia fired off electricity from her spear. It hit Jakrelaur in the chest, and he dropped his all powerful axe. I jumped at him and sliced, leaving a large cut in his chest. He went down with a final kick, and I turned to see Thalia fighting against Sophiee.

Sophiee tried to block, but the force of Thalia attack was too great and Sophiee was knocked to the ground. She scrambled away, but Thalia hurled her spear with lethal accuracy. Thalia yanked her spear out of Sophiee's body. Evan ran past, chasing after Alex, but Thalia tripped him with her spear. He fell to the ground, hitting his head and blacking out.

"You don't want to fight me," Helen warned as we approached.

"Yeah, we do," Thalia said as her spear crackled with electricity.

Helen took a step back every time we took a step forward, until she backed up into a wall. Blue flames danced across her fingertips, but suddenly she gasped and clutched her throat. She fell to the floor, thrashing and flailing as she tired to cough. Eventually, she coughed up water that had stopped her breathing, but she was already unconscious.

We turned to see a single man approaching. His hair was jet black, short cropped, and spiky. His eyes were sea blue, and he had the tattoo of a trident on his forearm. Thalia and I steadied our weapons.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Neroh, son of Poseidon," Neroh said.

"He had another demigod child?" Thalia asked, confused.

"No," Neroh answered. "I am a _real _son of Poseidon. Before that outsider Perseus came along, my father paid attention to his real family. Bless the day Perseus met his end. And now, I will get revenge on Poseidon. For abandoning us for that…bastard."

"Wow," I said, "Percy's family has serious issues."

"Like yours doesn't" Thalia said.

"Good point," I admitted.

"Don't worry though. No direct involvement," Neroh said. "I won't fight you, but uh…he will."

Water flowed from Neroh's hand and over Evan's body. The water flowed over his wounds, and they healed and faded. As the water receded, Evan gasped and stood up. He picked up his sword and looked at us. Neroh smiled and disappeared in a swirl of water. Alex was still cowering in the corner of the room. She was safe for now.

Evan charged forward, kicking Thalia in the throat before knocking my sword from my hand. His attack caught us off guard, and he got the upper hand. Thalia swung her spear out, but Evan blocked and tripped her with his sword. Okay I guess karma came around there. Evan turned to me and kicked me to the ground. Before I could get up, I found his sword in my stomach, and his fist connected with my jaw. He hit me again and again. I figured he was going to beat me to death, but a certain someone saved my life.

"No!" Alex shouted and ran forward. "Get away fwom my daddy!"

"Who cares about your daddy! My father never loved me! What's so special about you! Who decided you got a loving father and I didn't?" Evan screamed.

Alex looked at him with compassionate eyes. "Your daddy never hug you?" she asked.

"Never!" Evan shouted back angrily, tears in his eyes.

Alex opened up her arms. "Hug?"

Evan looked at Alex, confused, before awkwardly hugging her. They hugged for about two seconds before black electricity coursed through Evan, and he collapsed. Alex put her hands on her hips.

"That's what you get mister!" she said with more sass than I'd ever seen in her.

"That's my girl," I said proudly as I pulled the sword out of my stomach.

"Excuse me?" Thalia said. "I think you mean _my _girl."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we just agree she's our daughter and make out?"

Thalia smiled. "Why not?"

I pulled her in and kissed her, but we were interrupted by a certain pint-sized trickster.

"Oh gwoss!" Alex gagged.

Thalia and I pulled apart laughing. I lifted Alex up and pulled Thalia and her both into a group hug. Honestly, despite the blood I was losing, I hadn't felt this complete in well…ever. Leave it to the villain to ruin a perfect moment. We heard slow applause coming from the door. We looked to see Ethan Nakamura.

I put Alex down and picked up my sword. Thalia leveled her spear and raised her shield. Ethan drew his own sword and held up a black box.

"Looking for this?" he asked with a grin.

"Let me guess," Thalia said. "We're going to have to go through you to get it."

"You got it," Ethan congratulated.

"Good, I was hoping for that," she smiled.

"Should've just given it to her dude," I told Ethan.

"We'll see," Ethan said with an evil grin.

_**And scene. Well how was that? Yes yes there was no proposal. I'm saving that for the end! Along with a cute Alex/Jacob moment. Ugh spoilers! Anyway...Will Thalia tear Ethan to shreds, or rip him to pieces? Can Nico successfully steal his father's powers? And once the resurrection is done, how mad will Hades be? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	15. On the Run

_**Alright! We're almost past The Pit Saga portion of this story! After that it's the Hades Spawn Saga portion of this story. Then it's the Future is Theirs portion. And why am I naming all the sections of the story? Cuz I'm bored!**_

_**1136: Just shut up and give them the chapter.**_

_**003: I saved your life be grateful.**_

_**1136: I would…if I wasn't in a kitty cat costume because of you!**_

_**002: Aw but you look so cute in it. *takes picture***_

"Ethan," I seethed. "I hear you've been trying to kill my family."

"Nico," Ethan smiled. "I heard you screwed a huntress."

Thalia fired off electricity from her spear, and that nearly ended our fight with Ethan before it got started. The electricity was batted off Ethan's sword, and Thalia ran forward. Spear clashed against sword, and Ethan found himself fighting for his life. Thalia swung the spear, but Ethan ducked and countered with his sword.

Thalia blocked with Aegis and shield bashed him to the floor. Ethan performed a perfect back flip away from Thalia before throwing a knife with impressive accuracy. A cut appeared across her cheek, and Ethan lunged forward. Thalia blocked with her shield, but the force of the blow made her step back. Ethan swung out at her now exposed leg, and Thalia fell to the ground.

I jumped in, blocking Ethan blade only inches from Thalia's face. Our glares locked together, and our own duel began. I led him away from Thalia, who was still dazed on the floor. Our blades clashed again and again. I felt my arms get tired, and I knew I was slowing down. I was out of tricks, and I had to try a move Percy had taught me. My blade hit Ethan's hilt, and the next thing I knew Ethan was disarmed and my sword was pointed at his throat.

He raised his hands up in defeat, but that shit-eating grin never left his face. I stabbed forward, but he matrix dodged it and kicked the sword out of my hand. I threw a punch, which he caught and countered with his own. I fell to the ground, and when I tried to stand Ethan stepped down on my stab wound.

Thalia got up and charged forward again. Ethan jumped aside and kicked the spear out of her hands. She bashed him to the aside and caught her spear mid-air. Brilliant blue electricity arced out from the spear point, hitting Ethan in the chest. He was knocked on his ass, and I punched him across the face before he could get back up. He didn't move. I picked up my sword, and raised it up. I should've brought it down. I could've. But I didn't. I lowered my sword and grabbed the black box. I checked to make sure the ring and bolt sliver were still there. They were.

"Did he really think he could beat us?" Thalia asked as she collapsed her spear and her shield turned back into a bracelet.

"Well he gave us a run for our money I'll give him that," I said. "But he's out of his league."

The three of us made it back to the hangar where we found the various vehicles. We needed something we knew how to pilot. Dragon? No thanks. Helicopter? Nope. Submarine? Do I look like Percy Jackson to you? Armored jeep? That'll work. Thalia found controls to open the hangar doors, and we piled into the jeep and drove out. It was dark out, and the stars and moon were shining in the sky. We were in the middle of a desert.

"Where the heck are we?" I asked.

"Well…if I'm reading the stars right…I think we're New Mexico," Thalia said.

"New Mexico?" I asked. I looked out toward the tall rock formation on front of us. It was casting a pretty big shadow. I smiled and floored the gas, driving for the shadow. Thalia looked at me like I was crazy. We crashed into the shadowy side of the rock, and the next thing anyone was aware of we shot out of the woods at camp. I almost ran over some Demeter kids, but they jumped out of the way in time…probably.

"We're home!" Alex said happily as she jumped out of the jeep.

Thalia and I climbed out. We'd done it. We'd found the ring, rescued our daughter, saved our own sorry butts, beat The Pit, and made t back home. And we were only halfway done with this whole escapade. Next up on the agenda: steal the powers of the god of the dead.

"First thing in the morning," Thalia said, "we get Alex a babysitter."

Oops. Next up on the agenda: Get a sitter.

We got Alex out of the woods and made it back to the Hades cabin. After two hours of bedtime stories and gentle rocking, Alex was finally put to sleep. Thalia and sighed happily now that that job was done. Thalia got into the bottom bunk, and I was about to climb into the top when Thalia cleared her throat and patted the bed next to her. And so that's how we ended up sharing a bed again. Next morning, I was the one who had to find Alex a babysitter.

I searched through my phone contacts for someone I trusted with Alex. We needed someone who could take care of her, but could also protect her in case The Pit showed up. Luckily, I had the number of just such a person.

"So you'll do it?" I asked.

"Look we just need someone to watch Alex while we're in the Underworld. We have to steal Hades' power."

"It's the only way to resurrect Percy and Annabeth."

"I don't care if you don't like him. Somebody has to give birth to the child of the prophecy!"

"All demigods includes you!"

"Will you do it or not Clarisse?" I asked, tired of begging.

"…Fine," she answered.

"Thank you!" I shouted and hung up.

"You get a sitter?" Thalia asked as she came up behind me, carrying Alex.

"Yup," I said proudly.

"Who'd you get?" she asked.

"Clarisse Rodriguez," I told her.

Thalia remained silent. She looked at me like I was insane. I just shrugged.

"She'll be here in half an hour, Chiron is watching her till then. Let's go," I said.

Thalia shook her head and smiled. After dropping Alex off with Chiron and saying our goodbyes, Thalia and I left for the Underworld. We were too tired to use our respective means of travel, so we had to _drive _all the way back to Los Angeles. Boring, but what are you going to do?

I held the ring up in the sunlight as Thalia drove.

"So how does this work to I hold it up to him or what?" I asked.

"The ring has to come into physical contact with Hades with a sizable amount of force," Thalia explained.

"So I have to punch him with it?" I asked in disbelief. "As if he wasn't gonna be pissed as is."

"No one said this was gonna be easy," Thalia told him.

"It never is," I said solemnly.

We drove until we made it to the entrance to the Underworld. We both got out and entered. Charon was there as usual. I had a plan to just talk our way past him, but Thalia had other, quicker plans. She punched him in the face, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"You–he–but–ugh!" I stammered.

I did my best to row the ferry across the Styx, security ghouls already after us. I smacked one aside with the pole.

"You had to knock out Charon!" I shouted.

"Keep rowing!" Thalia ordered, smacking aside more security ghouls with her spear.

_**Alright, a filler chapter with action. Not my best chapter. Next one will be better I promise! Until then, I've got to find and kill (again) Owch, so…Will they make it to Hades without being captured by the ghouls? Can Nico pull off the resurrection? How will Percy and Annabeth react to being alive again? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	16. Resurrection

_***takes bullet to the shoulder* Agh! You WILL die Owch! *fires AK-47* stand still will you? **_

_**Owch: I know all your tricks 003. *dodges bullets matrix style* I taught em to ya!**_

_**003: Oh yeah? Did you teach me this!**_

We jumped out of the ferry as soon as we were close enough to the other side. Good thing too, because a second after we'd jumped out, arrows peppered the surface. The security ghouls notched more arrows and we kept running.

"Think we can take them?" Thalia asked.

One of the ghouls struggled to keep Cerberus under control, but eventually the ghoul gave up, and Cerberus charged forward, backing up the security ghouls chasing us.

"No!" I shouted. "Keep running!"

We veered sharply to the right, and I had to slide baseball-style before getting back up. Cerberus snapped at us, tearing off Thalia's jacket.

"This is why we hired a sitter!" Thalia shouted.

Babysitting POV

"So…what do you _do_ exactly?" Clarisse asked Alex.

Alex just blew a strand of hair out of her face and rocked idly back and forth on her heels. Clarisse started slamming her head on the desk out of boredom.

Nico's POV

"Go!" Thalia shouted. "They won't chase you. Get to Hades! Go!"

"Remember what happened last time you made a last stand?" I asked Thalia as Cerberus and the ghouls closed in. "I'm not leaving you!"

"You don't have a choice!" Thalia hissed.

The ghoul drew a sword and lunged. I slashed through it with my own sword, and he disappeared.

"Yeah, I do and I'm staying here!" I shot back.

The ghouls sank into the ground, and skeleton warriors crawled out.

"Back off!" I ordered, and with a wave of my hand the warriors turned to piles of bone. "See this is easy with me around."

Cerberus lunged, and both of us jumped back. Thalia raised her spear and stabbed out a few times, forcing Cerberus back. I swung my own weapon, forcing the crazed dog back even further.

"Can you tell him to back off?" Thalia asked hopefully.

"Sadly no, he takes his job very seriously," I whispered.

Cerberus growled and snapped at us with all three of his heads. Now we were the ones forced back. I swung my sword, but the blade glanced off his teeth harmlessly. He growled a threat at us.

"What did he say?" Thalia asked as she yanked her spear out of his right mouth.

"He says we're in direct violation of Hades' law, and he's giving us ten seconds to surrender before…you know."

"No way! We can take him!" Thalia said as Cerberus loomed over us.

"And what if we can't?" I asked as I dropped my sword and raised my arms. "Alex grows up without her parents?"

Thalia sighed before dropping her weapon and raising her hands. Two security ghouls came down and shoved us in front of them as they led us to Hades' palace. I smirked, because they were just giving us an escort to where we were headed. Thalia figured that out too and smiled. We entered Hades palace, and he looked at us. He didn't look too happy either, and I hadn't even punched him yet.

"Nico, is there a particular reason you decided to fight your way into the Underworld instead of just using the front door?" he asked, trying to be diplomatic.

"Well, I was all set for a peaceful entrance into your domain as well, but a certain daughter of Zeus got carried away," I explained.

"I–" Thalia started to protest, but I was on a roll.

"You'll have to excuse her," I said, "she's still on edge from all the fighting we've done recently."

"Understandable," Hades nodded. "Really Thalia, once Nico finally gets the guts to pop the question, you'll be part of the family. No need to pummel your way into the Underworld."

"Thanks Lord Hades," Thalia said, looking at me as I slid the ring onto my finger. "I'll try to be less violent from now on."

"Glad to hear it, now why is it you two came–"

That's when I punched my immortal father in the jaw. His power flowed into the ring, and by extent, into me. He collapsed to the ground in shock and I ran for the exit with Thalia right behind me.

"Sorry!" I called back as we ran away.

"Get them!" Hades roared.

Three skeleton warriors stepped forward, but a wave of my hand and they stood rigid, not making a move against us. We ran out of the palace. I wasn't sure what it was we were running from, but who cares.

"We haven't got much time, Hades' power is already slowly returning to him," Thalia told me. "If we're going to do this we have to do it now."

"Alright," I said. "Percy…Annabeth…get your asses out here!"

Babysitting POV

"Get down from there!" Clarisse shouted, but Alex did no such thing.

In fact, she only climbed higher on the Big House roof. Clarisse cursed and climbed up after her. The closer Clarisse got to Alex, the closer Alex got to the ledge. Just as Clarisse got close enough to grab Alex, the little di Angelo jumped.

"Crap!"

Nico's POV

The first thing that happened was the ring glowed fiercely. After a few seconds, I figured nothing was going to happen. But then black energy shot out from my hands and pierced into the ground. Two spirits shot into the ground after the energy, And I knew this was working. But then of course something went wrong.

I was tackled from behind. I fell to the ground, and the ring fell away from me. I looked up to see Hades on top of me, looking madder than ever. I punched him off of me, or tried. But he ended up kneeing me in the groin and scrambling after the ring.

Thank gods for Thalia. She kicked Hades away from the ring and wrestled him to the ground. While Hades tried (in vain) to get Thalia off of him, I got the ring back on and finished what I'd started. Soul fused with flesh, and four living hands erupted from the ground, slowly pulling themselves out of the ground. Yes! Score one for the–

Hades and Thalia, who were still fighting, crashed into me, and the three of us tumbled to the ground. Hades got the ring, and instantly his power returned to him. He crushed the ring in his hand and looked at us in rage. We were so beyond dead.

"You defied me, stole my powers, punched me in the face, humiliated me in front of my subjects, and now–" Hades began, but we were saved by a certain demigod couple.

"We are all just going to calm down," Annabeth ordered. "Hades, just back off for a second. Will somebody please tell me what's going on?"

"Yes well, my son and his girlfriend upset the natural order of things _against my direct orders_, and have brought you two back from the dead. Don't worry though, I intended to fix all this."

"Wait, what do you mean 'fix this'?" Percy asked.

He got his answer in the form of a black energy blast to the chest. Annabeth jumped aside to dodge the blast meant for her.

Thalia and I had left our weapons at the palace. Percy's faithful sword Riptide was still embedded in his gravestone, and Annabeth's old weapons were in the attic of the Big House. Hades was the immortal Lord of the Dead, he had just gotten his powers back, and his sword and helm of terror were waiting for use. This should be fun.

_**002: And he just dropped dead?**_

_**003: Yeah. I didn't touch him. I'm having 1136 inspect the body, and he'll let us know if he finds anything.**_

_**1136: Why to I have to touch the dead guy?**_

_**003: Cuz I said so. Ahem. Can the four demigods beat Hades? Can Clarisse keep Alex under control? Are Percy and Annabeth gonna die AGAIN? Tune in next time to find out!**_


	17. Enjoy Living!

_**1136: That's what I found.**_

_**003: *holds up throwing weapon shaped like and X* Who uses these to kill? And more importantly, how did they get to my fight with Owch? We were in 1733.**_

_**1136: Another time traveler maybe?**_

_**003: They're all dead. Except…oh god. No it can't be him. It isn't.**_

_**1136: Who?**_

_**003: No one.**_

Percy's POV 

I hit the ground hard, clutching my chest in pain. I've been alive for what? A minute and forty-five seconds? And people are already trying to kill me! Oh well. So yes, Hades blasted at Annabeth, but she managed to dodge the first time. Second time, the blast hit the ground beneath her feet and she fell to the ground.

I shot up like a rocket and punched Hades in the jaw, but I might as well have punched a rock, because my fist did nothing except practically break. I staggered back and had to matrix dodge Hades' sword. Thankfully Nico kicked his dad, and the god staggered back a few feet.

Annabeth got up, shaken but otherwise okay. Out of options, we ran for it. Hades was behind us the whole time, summoning skeleton warriors and blasting us with black energy. We ran for our lives, doing our best not to blow up.

"How the Hades are we getting out of here?" Annabeth screamed.

"Everybody step on my shadow!" Nico ordered.

Even though I didn't get what he meant at first, I figured it out and stepped on his shadow. So did Thalia and Annabeth. Nico pulled us all into a group hug, and we were all sucked into the shadows. Even through the shadow travel, I heard Hades curse.

We tumbled out from underneath a car at Pismo Beach, happy to be alive. Even so, I wasn't so happy when the car we were under almost ran us over. We were finally out of the Underworld.

"Think we lost him?" I asked.

Me and my big mouth. Cracks formed in the Earth, and Hades himself burst from the ground. His sword was in his hands and his helm sat on his head. I was scared already, and not even of him. I don't know what I was scared of, I was just scared. And the longer I looked at that helm, the more fear ebbed into my mind. I tried to shake it off, but couldn't. Looking around, my friends weren't doing any better.

So this is how it ends. Cowering in fear of a god with a scary hat. Honestly, can't I get decent end? As if getting impaled by Beef Boy was embarrassing enough. I am seriously unlucky.

Just as Hades was about to impale us, a trident flew through the air and stabbed him in the stomach. The trident yanked itself out of him and returned to its owner. The helm fell off of Hades' head, and I felt fine. I turned to the wielder of the trident.

"Hades!" Poseidon shouted. "Next time you think about killing my son, don't do it within throwing distance of the ocean."

Braver mortals were cowering a safe distance away, watching the two brothers. We were watching them too. Poseidon was saving our butts, but this could turn into the fight of the century.

"Is this what it's come to Poseidon?" Hades asked, giving his sword a test spin.

"Excuse me," a different voice called out.

As soon as I heard that voice, I knew Hades was in trouble. I never thought I'd say it, but: Saved by the mother-in-law!

"Poseidon has obviously let his emotions cloud his judgment, making him act out against his own brother," Athena explained. "_I _however, would be above such things, even if you say…killed my daughter or anyone whose death would hurt her."

Hades got the message. Touch Annabeth or anyone close to her, Athena is your new enemy.

"Well…" Hades began, caving under the combined might of Athena and Poseidon, "since Percy and Annabeth could potentially raise the next child of the prophecy, and since Nico and Thalia _were _acting for the greater good…I suppose I can let this _outrage_ slide. Just this once."

"Glad to hear it," Athena smiled.

"Sorry about...you know…stabbing you," my dad apologized.

The brothers shook hands, and Poseidon left in a gust of salty air. Athena transformed into an owl and flew off. Hades sighed and retreated back to the Underworld. That left the four of us sitting there, trying to come to terms with the fact tht we were still alive.

"So…we live?" I asked.

"Do you feel dead Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked.

"Not with you here," I said, going into romantic mode.

"Get a room!" Nico teased.

"You sure you guys don't want one too?" I shot back, observing how Thalia was older and the way they seemed closer.

"No thanks," Thalia said. "One child is quite enough."

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "You mean…"

Thalia nodded. "Yup, I'm a mother!"

I looked at Nico, who shrugged. Nico and Thalia… Well yeah I knew it was going to happen, but still. Them? Parents? Of the same kid? How long was I out?

"Speaking of which, I wonder how Clarisse is doing with Alex," Nico said.

"You hired Clarisse as a babysitter?" I asked in disbelief.

Babysitting POV

Clarisse wanted to scream. She'd chased this little girl through the entire camp _twice_. And that was just when she needed to feed the damn thing. Trying to get it to fall asleep? Even worse.

"Just go to bed!" Clarisse screamed.

Alex continued to hang from the ceiling fan. "Wead me a bedtime stowy! Mommy always weads me a bedtime stowy!"

"Alright," Clarisse seethed. "Once upon a time there was a little girl who wouldn't go to bed, so her babysitter shoved her spear up the little girl's–"

"Boring!" Alex shouted as she jumped down from the fan.

Clarisse lost it. She grabbed Alex by the ankles and lifted her up, holding her upside down. Alex giggled. Where was the fear in this thing?

"Listen to me!" Clarisse ordered the bundle of chaos she held. "From now on, you do exactly as I say. So when I say go to bed, you GO TO BED!"

Alex merely giggled and sent black electricity through her body, giving Clarisse a "shocking" surprise. Clarisse fell to the floor, and Alex landed on top of her.

Travis walked into the Hades cabin at that moment, and saw the chaos Alex had created and Clarisse had been too busy to clean up. He thought to say something, but figured Clarisse had enough to deal with without a lame joke from him.

Then again what's the harm in a little sarcasm?

"Having fun?" Travis asked.

"I swear, I'm going to kill di Angelo when he gets back," Clarisse said as Alex jumped on her stomach like a trampoline.

"I'll just be going then," Travis said with a smile.

Clarisse caught Alex mid-jump and set her aside. Before Travis was halfway out the door, Clarisse grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the cabin.

"She needs to be in bed before her parents get back," Clarisse told Travis, and shut the door.

Travis turned, and jumped when he saw Alex standing not two feet behind him.

"So…" Travis began.

"Hi, I'm Alex," Alex greeted. "My mommy and daddy aren't home right now, and I'm supposed to be on my bestest behabor for da sitter. But we both know I'm not."

"Help me," Travis prayed.

As Clarisse got home to her own husband, tired and just wanting sleep, she said, "We are _never _having kids."

"Uh…" Chris mumbled. "Okay then. Welcome home!"

Clarisse just groaned.

Nico's POV

"Eh," I said confidently, "I'm sure she's fine."

_**002: Where's 36?**_

_**003: Cemetery.**_

_**002: Oh my god, WHAT DID YOU DO?**_

_**003: Relax, he's still alive…Probably. I just sent him to check that some bodies were still where they're supposed to be.**_

_**002: Which bodies exactly?**_

_**003: I'd love to talk but I've got TV host questions to ask. With Percy and Annabeth back in the saddle, can Nico and Thalia finally get a break? Will Travis survive with Alex until her parents get back? We all know how Nico handled being a father, but what about PERCY? Tune in next time to find out!**_

_**002: What bodies?**_


	18. Back to my Life

_**1136: Everybody who's supposed to be dead is dead. I don't know why you're so worked up about this, it's just another time traveler.**_

_**003: There aren't anymore time travelers. Owch wasn't even one. I'm all that's left.**_

_**1136: Well obviously you're not because–**_

_**003: *Draws knife* I'm all that's left. End of story.**_

Nico's POV

When we got back to Camp Half-Blood, the first thing I did was watch Percy Jackson tear down his gravestone and from the rubble pull out a ballpoint pen. He uncapped it, and Riptide gleamed in his hands. It glowed brighter than usual, as if it were glad to be back in the hands of its master.

Percy stared at the blade, admiring it. I could tell he was glad to have it back. He recapped it, and it turned back into a pen. No sooner had he done that when Annabeth appeared out of no where. It scared Thalia and me half to death, but apparently Percy had grown used to his wife appearing out of thin air.

Annabeth laughed, holding her old Yankees cap in one hand and her dagger in the other. Everything was getting back to normal. As fun as it was watching Percy and Annabeth enjoy life again, I had my own life to get to. Including my daughter who was probably miserable about having only Clarisse for company.

As soon as I opened the door, Travis shot out of the cabin like a rocket. His clothes were scorched, burned from electricity. His hair was a mess, and he had a wild look in his eyes, like he'd spent eternity in a horrible prison.

"FREE!" he shouted. "I'm FREE!"

He ran off like a madman, clicking his heels together and flailing his arms in the air as he ran off into the woods. Thalia and I just stared at his retreating figure with utter confusion. What could do that to Travis? What the Hades was Travis doing in the cabin in the first place?

We looked inside to fid a nightmare of a cabin. I was glad inspections weren't today, because we wouldn't have gotten a single star. In the middle of it all, Alex yawned and lazily climbed into bed. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. Thalia looked around, inspecting the damage.

"What do you suppose happened to Clarisse?" she asked idly.

"What do you supposed happened to _the cabin_?" I asked.

"Alex," Thalia answered simply.

"I need some air," I said, and left for a walk.

It was in the woods that it happened. I saw a shadow move a bit too much, and the next thing I knew Hades was standing in front of me. I was tempted to draw my sword then and there, but Hades didn't have his weapon or his helm, so maybe he wasn't here to pulverize me.

"Hello Nico," he greeted.

"Hey Dad," I returned cautiously.

Silence for a bit.

"Sorry about punching you in the face," I apologized. "I just knew you wouldn't resurrect Percy or Annabeth, and I couldn't do it with my level of power."

"No, you couldn't," Hades agreed. "That's how it should be Nico. I should be the only one with the authority and power to bring back the dead. It's the natural order of things. You're not supposed to upset the natural order of things."

"Won't happen again," I said. "So long as you work for the greater good, and I don't have to do it for you."

"Are you suggesting you're better than me?" Hades asked, but with amusement in his voice, not anger.

"Who knows," I said. "I'm no god, but I don't fear prophecies."

"The last prophecy killed one of your friends," Hades reminded me. "The one before that killed your mother."

"I hate prophecies," I admitted. "But I don't fear them. And I don't fear power."

Hades grunted. "Easy for you, you're a demigod. There's plenty of people more powerful than you. But I'm a god. I don't like it when something comes along that threatens my power. It's a god thing."

"What about Alex?" I asked.

Hades shook his head. "She's my own flesh and blood, my granddaughter. I don't strike out at my family–"

My mouth dropped open in utter shock.

"–unless they deserve it," Hades finished.

That made a little more sense.

"Right," I said. "Again, sorry about punching you in the face and stealing your powers."

"Sorry about trying to kill you," Hades muttered.

Gods hardly ever apologize. I smiled. "I'm sorry what?"

"I'm sorry for nearly incinerating you and your friends," Hades repeated, louder. "And to make it up to you, I got you this."

Hades tossed me a small black box. I caught it, and cautiously opened it. Inside there was a ring. Not the Hades ring that stole my father's power, but an ordinary ring, a silver band embedded with not one, but three diamonds.

"In the moonlight, they change color," Hades told me.

"Um…thanks?" I wasn't a big fan of jewelry, but I wasn't about to refuse a gift from a god I'd angered just yesterday.

"It's not for _you_," Hades laughed. "It's for a certain daughter of Zeus, when you propose to her."

"Dad, I–"

"Don't start with me," Hades ordered. "She's the mother of your child, you sleep in the same bed, you obviously love her. I may not be Aphrodite but I know that it's high time there was a ring on her finger."

"Okay!" I shouted, throwing my arms up in defeat.

"Good. Now run along, before I sic Aphrodite on you," Hades threatened.

From what Percy had told me that was _not _something I wanted. So yeah, Hades left, and I was left holding a ring and wondering where Thalia was.

I found her back at the Hades cabin, watching Alex sleep. She smiled as Alex yawned and slowly turned over in bed. I smiled too. So I summoned all the courage I had and cleared my throat. Thalia looked up at me and stood up.

"How was the walk?" Thalia asked as her arms wrapped around my neck.

"Pretty good," I admitted, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Hey I was wondering, you gave Alex my last name. Would you want it too?"

I removed one of my arms from Thalia's waist and held up the ring. She looked at the ring, mouth hanging open slightly, before looking back at me with a smile. She kissed me, and I took that as a yes. But wait, I wasn't out of the clear yet.

"I will marry you," Thalia told me, "if…"

"If?" I prompted.

"If you agree to my conditions," Thalia said.

"And those would be?"

"One, you are to love me forever and always," Thalia said.

"Of course."

"Two, you are not going anywhere this time. No more running away."

"Done."

"And three, if Alex ever wakes up in the middle of the night, crying, screaming, or just hungry, _you _are the one to go check on her," Thalia said.

"Aw come on! Every time?" I asked.

"I had to do it every time on my own for–"

"Alright I get it!" I submitted. "Okay, I'll check on Alex if she ever wakes up in the middle of the night for any reason."

"Good," Thalia smirked. "Oh and if we get sued for Travis's insanity, I'm directing all charges to you."

Lawsuits? Waking up in the middle of the night to check on Alex for _any _reason? Was one girl really worth all that? I looked into Thalia's eyes, and I knew she was.

"I'll get a lawyer…"

_**003: Keep those sentries off us, I'm going after the target!**_

_**1136: *fires RPG* I hate this job!**_

_**003: Good to know. And take care of the end of the chapter question too!**_

_**1136: WHAT? Ugh. **_


	19. It's a Boy

_**_: Having fun?**_

_**003: Who are you?**_

_**_: Agent 45x of the Project Phoenix**_

_**003: *mouth drops open* But…how…**_

_**45x: Your Agent 003 right? I've got a problem. For some reason everybody thinks I caused the 9-11 incident. A friend told me you could help.**_

_**003: ….**_

_Three months later…_

Nico's POV

Alex had a rough deal in life. In addition to her own scent, mine and Thalia's scent rubbed off on her, and monsters were starting to come in. Her first monster attack happened a few days after we left camp.

From then on, we sprayed Human In a Can on her once month to hide her scent. It did the job, but every now and again a monster stalked by our apartment, sniffing around as if they smelled something, but they didn't know what.

One day, we left to visit Percy and Annabeth. Alex was excited as ever. We'd told her Annabeth was gonna have a baby soon.

"Is it gonna be a girl?" Alex asked. "I hope it's a girl. Can it be a girl?"

"We don't know Alex," Thalia explained. "I could be a girl or a boy."

Alex shook her head. "No it's a girl. I said so."

I laughed. It truly was Alex's way or the highway. No wait, she didn't even give us a highway option. Alex was two years old now, growing fast. We got to the Jackson residence, and Alex jumped out of the car to ring the door bell repeatedly.

After about forty-seven rings of the bell, Percy opened the door.

"Uncle Percy!" Alex cried happily as Percy picked her up and spun her around.

"Hey Alex!" Percy greeted. "Been giving your parents a hard time?"

"Meh," Alex smirked.

Percy gave her a high five and set her down. "So what have you two been up to?"

"The usual," I said. "Keeping the small one under control, somehow holding my job."

Did I mention? I have a job down at the city morgue. They were looking for someone with actual qualifications, like a degree in some medical crap, but I'm a son of Hades, so I got the job. I study dead bodies and figure out how they died. Fun. For me anyway.

"Nice," Percy congratulated.

"Did Aunt Annabef have her baby yet?" Alex asked.

"Nope, not for another six months," Percy reported.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Thalia asked.

"Mommy!" Alex stamped her foot. "I told you it's gonna be a girl!"

Percy looked at me, and I just shrugged. I'd like to see Percy explain to Alex that not everything she says goes. I'd tried once, and gotten kicked in the shins. Little monster had a powerful kick.

Annabeth walked in, the bulge of the baby now noticeable. Alex looked at Annabeth's stomach in shock.

"She ate the baby?" Alex cried, cowering behind Thalia. We all busted up laughing, but that just scared Alex even more.

"Don't eat me!" she shouted and ran off somewhere else in the apartment.

"Who wants to explain all this to her?" Annabeth asked.

"Her dad does," Thalia said.

"I'll be back…"

_Six months later…_

Percy's POV

In our own demigod way, things were peaceful. The Pit was in hiding, little Alex di Angelo had turned two without anything trying to kill her, my own child was due in a week, and monsters only attacked me about once every few months.

The whole world had practically celebrated the return of the Jacksons. Fishermen caught huge loads like you wouldn't believe, and that oil spill in the gulf? Gone. Brilliant and philosophical minds around the world were finding that proverbial missing piece of the puzzle, and new inventions were popping up all over the world.

And that was just Poseidon and Athena celebrating. Monster activity everywhere had gone down sharply following our return. Maybe they were afraid of running into the greatest hero of all time. Or maybe we were in the down season of monsters, where most of the monsters are dead and have yet to regenerate.

First week back in town, I'd had a one-on-one fight with the Minotaur. I made sure to pummel him before sending him back to Tartarus. Everything was great.

And now, here I was at the wedding of Nico and Thalia. Took them long enough. Alex was the flower girl, and I was stuck as best man. Not that I didn't enjoy every agonizing minute of it, but yes, I was a little happy when an enormous hydra decided to crash the wedding.

Thalia tore off the bottom portion of her dress so it wouldn't get it the way while she fought. Nico drew his sword.

"I thought I said no weapons Nico!" Thalia shouted, even as she drew her spear and shield.

"What's your excuse?" Nico shot back as he dodged a hydra head.

"We'll talk about this later!" Thalia insisted.

"You two get married, I'll stall!" I shouted swing at the Hydra to get its attention. I followed me off and outside. I back flipped to avoid being bitten in half.

Nico's POV

"Okay, we'll just skip to the short version," Chiron said. "Do you Nico di Angelo take Thalia Grace to–"

He was interrupted when a Hydra head snapped at us before being chopped off by Percy.

"Short, short version," Chiron said. He looked at Thalia. "Do you?"

"Yes," Thalia quickly.

"Do you?" he asked, looking at me.

"Yes," I said, and we all ducked as stray acid flew our way.

"Good you're married. Kiss her!" Chiron shouted and galloped out of the way as the Hydra crashed to the ground where he'd been standing. All of the Hydra's necks were stumps. Bad news? None of the stumps were burnt.

"PERCY!" Thalia and I shouted in unison.

"I like a challenge," he defended as the heads started to multiply and grow back.

We were staring at a twenty headed Hydra, all of the heads roaring at us.

"I hate you," I told Percy before the children of the Big Three charged forward.

Lightning struck, swords flashed, water swirled, and before you knew it the Hydra was dead, for real this time.

We walked back inside to find Annabeth shifting uncomfortably against her seat.

"You okay?" Percy asked, kneeling down to her.

"Percy," Annabeth managed. "It's time."

Percy's eyes went wide. "We need to get you to the hospital."

"No I mean it's time _right now_," Annabeth insisted.

"Anybody ever deliver a child before?" I asked.

"I had to give birth to Alex, and Artemis helped, but she's not here right now," Thalia said.

"Guys," Annabeth strained. "Help?"

"Think you can do this?" I asked Thalia.

"I can try," she said, unsure of herself.

"Try," Annabeth ordered.

"Try mommy!" Alex put in. I hadn't even noticed her for a bit.

Thalia sighed and bent down to Annabeth's level. I won't go over the details, but eventually, Annabeth's pain lessened and she held a small baby boy. Alex wasn't too happy about that, but the thing's cuteness must've held off her wrath.

"Jacob," Annabeth sighed contently.

Next to her, Percy smiled and gently took the baby from Annabeth for a bit. He gently brushed Jacob's cheek before giving him back to Annabeth.

"Jacob L. Jackson," Percy said.

"What's the L stand for?" I asked.

"Figure it out," Annabeth smirked.

I would've argued, but after what she'd gone through I figured I'd give her a break. Alex peered curiously at the young Jacob.

"Can I see him?" Alex asked.

Annabeth held him so Alex could get a closer look.

"Hi…" Alex said softly. "He's kinda cute…"

Jacob squirmed and gave Alex a smack on the nose.

"Ow!" Alex said, even as she smiled. "The kid's got nerve. I like him."

"Tell you're son to stay away from my daughter Percy," I joked.

We all laughed. I admit, I felt good. I'd always felt kinda guilty for not being there when Alex was born, but after what I'd just seen…well I didn't feel so guilty now. As I stared at Jacob, I couldn't help but wonder if this kid really could be the savior of all demigods and the child of the next Great Prophecy.

_**002: But the Agent X program was disabled. They only succeeded with–**_

_**45x: The 45**__**th**__** attempt. Me. **_

_**002: Weird. Well it's nice to meet you. Isn't it 003?**_

_**003: Can't talk! Working! Ahem. Well, after this chapter, we check up on The Pit, then an epilogue, thus ending the War of the Half-Bloods Trilogy. Up Next is the Rise of Urunos Trilogy, starring Alex, Jacob, Evan, and a bunch of other characters that make up the next generation. WARNING:. Starting August 23, my updates will drop down to once a week on Fridays. That includes my story/show Iron Man Galaxies.**_


	20. Rise of Evan

_**1136: So you write? How do you find time to do that when the whole world's after you?**_

_**45x: Eh, I manage.**_

_**003: Hello? I've been doing that for years!**_

_**1136: Sorry did you say something?**_

_**003: Grr…**_

The Pit POV

"The Hydra failed to kill the target," Alice reported. "The child was born."

"Dammit!" Ethan cursed.

"Sir, this constant failing isn't sitting well with the men," Alice warned. "If you don't push our plans forward soon, there might be a mutiny."

"Who would dare to cross me?" Ethan asked, only to fell an explosion of pain in his back and watch as a spear shot out of his chest. Ethan gasped, blood coming out of his mouth.

"Goodbye…father," a voice said from behind Ethan.

"Evan?" Ethan rasped as he fell to the floor, dying.

"I hear this is how you killed mom," Evan said shakily. The boy was shivering, but he had a smile on his face, as if revenge gave him a strange new sensation…and he liked it. "Did you watch her die father? Did you look into her eyes as her life ebbed away?"

Evan pulled out a match and struck it. The flame glowed menacingly. Ethan looked down at his dry, flammable clothes.

"Because I won't give you the same respect," Evan said, and tossed the match.

Ethan's clothes caught fire, and he would have screamed in pain if he had the energy left. But he had already lost too much blood. The fiery pain just made his death all the more uncomfortable. All the more final. Before he died, he saw Neroh walk up and sit calmly on Ethan's former throne.

"You…" Ethan managed, even as flames engulfed his face.

"Oh no," Neroh said. "I'm merely a stand in, until the true leader is ready."

"I will do that which you could not father," Evan promised evilly. "I will bring Olympus crumbling down. And this time, there won't be any demigods to stop me. Because we're burning Camp Half-Blood to the ground. We're unleashing the ultimate power. And we will not fail as you have."

Ethan was too close to death to say anything or in any noticeable way respond to his son, but his last thoughts were _What have I done?_

"Alice, get this body out of here, and send Michel in," Neroh ordered.

"Yes my lord," Alice obeyed.

Alice closed her eyes, and she transformed into an enormous lion. The lion scooped up the burnt corpse in its maw and left the room. Soon after, Michel, the son of Oceanus, entered.

"What is it?" Michel asked irritably. "I've got things to do, places to go…oh wait. Never mind, I'm stuck in this rat infested dirt heap because I've been forbidden to leave!"

"Then today is your lucky day, the time has come. Execute Order 88," Neroh said. "And Michel, if you think about making a run for it, just remember that…surprise you're carrying."

Michel shuddered at the mention of his implant. One touch of a button, and he would explode. He had young Evan to thank for that one.

"Of course," Michel muttered, swallowing his fury. "I'll assemble my team."

When he left the room, Neroh turned to Evan. "Things are coming together my young friend. Soon, we will have our army. But for now, rest, and help yourself to your father's chambers."

Evan nodded and left for his father's old room. Compared to the tiny little hellhole he used to occupy, his father's quarters were huge. A large bed, a private toilet, a personal shower, a dresser, a bedside table, and a mini armory. Evan smiled, and plopped into bed. He was asleep almost before he hit the pillow.

But, like all half-bloods, Evan was subject to dreams.

_"Stop!" the woman shouted._

_The man didn't pay attention. He merely shoved the Cyclopes into Tartarus along with the hundred handed ones. The woman, Gaia, tried to stop him but the man, Urunos, backhanded her aside._

_Her young Titan child, Kronos, ran to his mother's side as all his siblings ran. Gaia was clutching her ribs, where Urunos had struck her. They were broken. They would heal, for she was immortal, but it still hurt her tremendously._

_Kronos cried for his mother, who suffered this kind of abuse day and night. Urunos's children, the Titans, didn't get any better off. Kronos was tired of it. He drew his scythe, half steel, half Celestial bronze. The things he'd gone through to make this blade… Young Kronos shuddered._

_"Monster!" Kronos shouted, his scythe raised._

_"You dare to challenge me child?" Urunos asked. "I am ruler of the heavens. I fear no one!"_

_"I am the Lord of Time," Kronos declared, scythe leveled at Urunos. "And I fear you. So you must die." _

_Kronos swung his scythe, and time literally slowed. Urunos couldn't raise his own sword fast enough to defend himself, and the scythe cleaved clean off most of his neck. Kronos followed up with lightning speed, slicing at the groin. He finished off by slamming the butt end of his scythe into Urunos's chest so hard it punctured the god's flesh._

_Kronos raised his scythe._

_"Any last words?" the angry Titan asked._

_"As you kill me and take my throne, so your children shall dethrone you," Urunos cursed. And then the ruler of the heavens leapt away from his son. Kronos slashed again and again, leaving Urunos's body as a mass of cuts and ichor. Kronos spat on the bleeding form of his father, and kicked into the heavens._

The dream shifted form the past to the future.

_"Are you asking for my help Jackson?" Kronos laughed._

_"Shut up!" Percy Jackson roared. "You've got one chance to do something useful with your worthless existence Kronos. Are you going to take it or not?"_

_"A chance to thrash my old man?" Kronos asked. He looked to Jackson, then the di Angelo couple, then to his three sons. "Yeah, I'm in."_

_"Joy," Thalia di Angelo grumbled._

_"You even think about double crossing us," Percy warned, "And Riptide will be the last sensation you feel."_

_"Preceded by the master bolt, the helm, and the trident I'm sure," Kronos smiled. "Don't worry. The enemy of my enemy is my friend…for now."_

The dream shifted one final time, showing Evan himself now.

_Evan easily blocked the strike aimed for his head. He tired a few attacks of his own, and was surprised when his opponent blocked the first two and parried the final one. Jacob Jackson slashed, cutting a gash in Evan's armor. Evan took a step back before letting Urunos's energies flow through him. At first he felt the immense power of it all, the thrill, but then he felt a sharp pain in his side. _

_He knew Jackson hadn't done the damage. He was feeling what Urunos felt. Which meant some damn fool was attacking the ruler of the heavens. Evan ignored the pain and swung, but Jacob transformed into a column of water, and the blade harmlessly passed through him. Jacob reformed and countered, cutting at Evan's cheek. The blade was deflected off Evan's skin._

_Jacob back flipped to dodge Evan's next strike. He landed a good ten feet back. Evan raised his hand, and a beam of solar energy shot out. Jacob deflected it off his sword and moved in to close the gap. Evan smiled, knowing just how to end Jacob's life._

Evan woke up in a cold sweat. Why did he feel so afraid. His dreams showed nothing scary or deterring. It showed the evils of Urunos, the desperation of his enemies, and his own success in combat. Why did he feel so afraid. Because despite everything he saw, a nagging feeling crept into his skull. It was like a voice inside his head.

_You will fail. _The voice promised. _You will fail, because I'm here to stop you._

_**003: Tomorrow's the story epilogue. Story awards tomorrow, so be prepared. If you haven't already, there's a poll on my profile that concerns my next story. Vote on it if you want to live! It's been fun gang. Read, review, vote on that profile, put the story in your favorites, put the other stories in your favorites, wear something nice for the award ceremony. You guys are the best. See you here, there, or in the air!**_


	21. Epilogue

_**003: Wassup players? Today–**_

_**45x: Hey dude, you doing that story thing? Mind if I take a crack at it?**_

_**003: Actually this is kinda my thing so if you could just–**_

_**45x: Nonsense go on a date with 002 or something I'll write the epilogue for ya! It'll be great! C'mon you know you want to…**_

_**003: Actually I–**_

_**002: I heard "002" and "date". Is it true?**_

_**003: *shoots 45x the death glare* Absolutely. Where do you want to go?**_

Percy's POV

We were in the Big House for an important meeting. Aside from me, Annabeth (who was rocking two year old Jacob to sleep), Nico, Thalia, Rachel, Chiron, Clarisse, Katie, Travis (who got all twitchy whenever he looked at Alex), Chris, the various other cabin counselors, and Alex were present.

"We've all been called here," Chiron explained, "because each of you has either heard the Great Prophecy, needs to hear it, or is the child of someone who was called here."

Four year old Alex was off to the corner idly practicing with her sword, but I could tell she was listening to our every word with interest. Little schemer was good like that.

"So you guys really think my son's the child of the prophecy?" Annabeth asked when she thought Jacob was asleep.

"We're almost certain," Travis said. "Listen to the Prophecy."

Rachel cleared her throat and her eyes glowed green.

"_The unborn child of the half-blood heroes  
Whose peers of power number zero  
Shall unite with a hero much like him  
To save all demigods from a future grim  
The resurrection shall cause his birth  
His only love will reignite the hearth  
From the Lord of Time to the Son of the Sea  
All shall fail to end the murder spree"_

Rachel's eyes returned to normal, and she shrugged off the prophecy-lag. Annabeth and I looked at each other. The hero described in the prophecy did sound a lot like Jacob. But if Jacob _was _going to be the hero, that still left a lot of questions. I only knew one Lord of Time, and I didn't want Jacob anywhere near him.

Son of the Sea? Did that mean me, or some other future son of Poseidon? What was the grim fate that Jacob had to save us from, and who was the hero much like him. Another thing. "His only love"? My boy…was going to fall in love. Damn you Aphrodite! Can't you ever stay out of it? Oh well, as long as she doesn't mess with Jacob's head too much, I'm good.

"Jacob is the hero…" Annabeth said with utmost certainty.

Jacob stirred. "I'm the hewo?"

I almost gasped. Jacob was a smart kid. Incredibly mature for his age. He'd learned to talk with almost impossible speed. Same for walking. That baby talk that lingered in speech? Almost gone with him. I didn't doubt he'd heard and understood _everything _we'd just talked about.

"You're the hero kid," Alex said sadly, patting him on the shoulder.

"Crud," Jacob cursed. I guess he'd heard about how fun it was to be the child of the prophecy. He did eavesdrop a lot.

"Jacob," Annabeth scolded. "Language."

"Mom! I'm two years old!" Jacob complained.

Okay, smart kid, but he lacked the common sense to see he had a poor argument. Sorry kid, looks like you inherited my common sense.

"Jacob…" Annabeth warned in her mother voice.

"Yes mom," Jacob submitted.

"Much as I hate to say it Jackson," Clarisse muttered. "Your son is our only hope. Gods help us all."

The Pit POV

Alice, daughter of Artemis, watched as Michel and his team unloaded their prizes from Order 88: Exactly seventy-five demigod children, none of them older than four, kidnapped at a young age so they could be trained to hate the gods. They'd captured as many demigods as possible, leaving almost none for Camp Half-Blood.

This was good. As the next generation of demigods grew up, there would be more of them working with The Pit than training at Camp Half-Blood. When the two armies clashed, The Pit would have strength of numbers.

"Things are going well then?" Neroh asked from behind her.

Alice spun around. "So far so good. We got a lot more kids than we'd hoped. Evan is going to have a powerful army."

"And he just needs the skill to lead them," Neroh said. "It would seem Ethan's son is our best hope. Gods help our enemies."

_**ANNOUNCEMENT: Title of next story is changed to **__**Jacob Jackson and the Sins of the Fathers.**_

_**003: What did you do? I told them they wouldn't hear the prophecy until Jacob heard it!**_

_**45x: Technically, Jacob DID hear the prophecy…**_

_**003: Whatever. I'm watching you. Very closely.**_

_**1136: Hey.**_

_**003: *karate chops 1136* oops. Sorry dude I thought you were a zombie. **_

_**1136: WHY?**_

_**Story Awards:**_

_**First to Review: LordofGoodness (Dang your fast.)**_

_**First to hear the Prophecy: misscullenmasen (Lucky #12!)**_

_**Most boring review: Nico Rocks (More? More? Can you please use more words?)**_

_**Thalico Haters: …(Nope no one. Moving on.)**_

_**Reviewed Every Chapter: Goddess of Perfection, I'mAnIdiotButWhoCares, raven shadow heart, Thread of the Maze, Agent 004 Taco Cat, -Genius, Blue-Red-Ninja, mieux-mystery-otaku, owlhead98, Nico Rocks (Dang that's a lot. So sorry to the people who missed one or two chapters, or just couldn't review in time.)**_

_**Chapter with least reviews: Ring: Check & Uncheck and Breakout Part 1 tied for dead last.**_

_**Chapter with most reviews: New Death (I didn't even bother to check. I just wrote the name of the first chapter because frankly the public is predictable.**_

_**Highest Bounty: raven shadow heart (I have not seen that many zeros since…well ever actually. I'm not even sure that much money is currently on the planet. $700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.01)**_

_**Alright that's it.**_


End file.
